Bingo!
by A True Shipper
Summary: AU. Arthur Kirkland wins a month to spend in a villa, but is stuck there with another lucky winner, Alfred. Can love overcome the obstacles caused by Alfred's past and Arthur's present?
1. Chapter 1

**ATS here! A sudden strike of inspiration has hit me, and I present to you, the first chapter of (hopefully many) Bingo! I don't own Hetalia, since otherwise that show would go from comedy to yaoi faster that you can imagine.**

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 **Bingo! Chapter 1, by: A True Shipper**

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Summer, to most people, is a time of joy. Sunny days without a single cloud to be seen in the blue sky that reaches the horizon and beyond, nature in full bloom and the delightful smell of flowers. Long beaches full of happy people celebrating the death of winter by swimming and sunbathing.

All of this, unless you live in England.

Sure you have a long holiday just like the people who live anywhere else, but instead of all the lovely weather, you get rain. And if the rain pouring down from the cloudy sky most of the time is not enough to bring you down, then the warmth, or the lack of it, will certainly ruin any plans of picnics or visits to the beach.

Arthur Kirkland was one of those poor unfortunate souls who happened to live in the land of eternal bad weather.

It wasn't as big of a thing for him, in fact he quite liked just staying inside. A few days reading books and sipping tea like a stereotypical British person was no problem for the blonde, and since the summer break had just started for him, he was happy to finally have some time off from all the studies at his university.

Arthur was 19, and for the holidays, had returned to live with his grandmother in a lovely little suburban house. His parents died when he was just a toddler in a car accident, and ever since, he had lived with grandma.

Grandma Bethany was not some weak elderly person. She was 68, but still went out for long walks or exercise, even if it was raining. In fact she had to drag Arthur out of his room regularly, so the boy wouldn't just stay inside for days straight. She also was an active bingo player, and had a reputation in the neighborhood for being the best in it. Arthur had no idea how Bethany kept bringing in prizes over and over again even though the game was all about luck.

One Thursday, about week after the break had started, Arthur noted how Bethany was acting strangely excited.

"Grandma, is something the matter?" Arthur asked the woman who was looking oddly cheerful when she was cleaning the kitchen.

"Oh Arthur, have I not told you yet?" Arthur shook his head in response.

"Well, the local bingo club is hosting its annual grand tournament today. This year, the main prize is a Villa in Plymouth, all yours for a month!" She exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear.

"Seems like quite the prize!" Arthur replied, and continued to dust some old pictures on the self.

"It is, but I don't really fancy living so far from all my friends and family here in Liverpool. It's quite isolated actually, and even though you can bring one friend with you to the villa, I doubt any villa could beat home," Bethany said. Arthur laughed a bit, knowing Liverpool was very important for Bethany. She hadn't been further than Ireland from her hometown, and knew tons of people.

"Well if you don't want to live In the villa, why do you want to participate?" Arthur asked.

"For fun of course!" She laughed warmly, and the laughter caught on to Arthur as well. After their little cleaning/chatting session, Arthur returned to his room to keep reading a new book he borrowed from the library. It was a sappy high school romance, but the thing which _actually_ kept Arthur reading it was the fact that the main couple was a gay one.

Arthur liked men, it wasn't a big of a secret to anyone. He wasn't the rainbow flag-carrying activist, not wanting to be remembered as "the gay guy", but as Arthur Kirkland, a full person with also other characteristics than the fact that he liked men.

But he did sometimes feel under-represented in literature, and every couple ever seemed to be a straight one. This was the reason why he even bothered to read the mediocre " _Roses and Pencils_ ". He was already disappointed with it, but since he had nothing else to do, he kept reading.

He kept reading for a good while till there was a knock on his door. "Come in!" He said, and lifted his gaze from the book. The door opened and Bethany walked in.

"Arthur, the bingo is starting in thirty minutes, we should get going." Arthur gave her a questioning look and said the same thing he was thinking:

" _We?_ "

"Well dear, you have to come with me, after all such a big bingo game only happens once a year!"

"I don't want to go." Arthur replied automatically.

"Come on, it will be fun! Bingo is easy to play, you could participate too!" She tired convincing Arthur.

Arthur really didn't want to go, but Bethany gave him a pleading look and soon enough, Arthur gave in and accepted her offer. She smiled brightly and said she would be waiting outside.

Arthur sighed. He wasn't exactly a competitive person, and the bed he was laying in was amazingly cozy. However he already had promised to go, so he reluctantly stood up and walked to the hallway. He put on his green raincoat and boots, since it was raining.

The two walked the kilometer to the Bingo Club to find it full of people. There was a hall with five long tables full of people, mostly middle-aged or elderly. Arthur took a bingo card, and lazily filled it with some random numbers he came up with. Arthur sat down to the end of a table with Bethany, and a few minutes passed.

Arthur wasn't exactly looking forward to the bingo session, but some of the others in the grey hall certainly were. He let his gaze drift around the hall.

Then, a loud announcer voice echoed through the hall. Arthur snapped his gaze to the direction of the sound. At the other end of the hall was a stage, on which there was a man in a wheelchair, apparently the game host.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, are we ready for some bingo?" He shouted with a megaphone and the crowd replied with a loud "YES!" and laughter. The man in the wheelchair then proceeded to explaining the rules of the game, which everyone already knew.

After a little bit of info, the game was on.

Arthur knew his chances of winning the bingo were almost nonexistent, but decided to pay attention. After all, if he got just those five numbers required in some form of a line, he would get to live in a villa for a month. And it was always worth a shot, right?

The game host had a big black box with all the numbers from 1-90, and Arthur watched him pull out one.

"27!" Arthur heard, and crossed a mark over his "27" in the left corner of his card.

"65!" He smirked and crossed that one as well. _''Wow, I'm really lucky today.'_ He thought _._ The next number were 11 and 90, which he didn't have. Arthur could feel the tension in the room building.

"39!" Arthur crossed it. He only had to get two more numbers to get a full row from the left corner to the upper right corner. He was excited now; there was actually a chance for him to win! He tapped the pencil on the table excited.

"22!" His shaky hand crossed it. ' _Just one more number!_ ' he thought, nearly bouncing in his seat. It was unlike him, to get so worked up about something like bingo.

"69!" He was certain his heart stopped for a split second. He didn't bother crossing the final number of his line. Instead, he jumped up from his seat, almost knocking it over, and shouting;

"Bingo!" He was shaking now. His brain was on overdrive, he had won! Won! But he realized that at the same exact moment as he had shouted the word of victory, another person had as well.

Arthur turned to look at the source of the sound. At the other end of his table, he saw sharp, blue eyes looking at him. He froze and kept staring at the boy. The stranger was maybe around his age and had thin, rectangular glasses. His hair was a soft light brown, and he had gray jeans and a black hoodie on, the hood pulled back.

Silence.

Who had won?

The silence and whispers dragged on painfully long. The host was discussing with some other people in the back of the stage.

Arthur kept staring at the boy, gaze locked on his eyes.

"Erhm…" The game show host broke the silence and turned everyone's, also Arthur's, gaze towards the man.

"I would like for the two lucky winners of our bingo to please follow me!" He exclaimed, and gestured to the door next to the stage.

Arthur looked puzzled, but a little push from Bethany woke him up. He grabbed the bingo card and started walking awkwardly towards the door. He went through the gap between the tables and felt the burning gazes of people heat him up. Arthur didn't like being the center of attention. He was a bit shy and he felt almost threatened by the looks people were giving him. He walked slightly faster and reached the door. He had seen the other boy and the game host get there earlier, they were much closer to the door anyway, but was still surprised to see the two in the little office.

It was a small office with a desk and two seats. It felt almost barren and lonely.

"Please, sit down." The man in the wheelchair said, and gestured for the other seat. Arthur sat down on the seat, next to the other boy. He was looking at him, but as Arthur's green eyes met blue, the blue ones turned quickly to the man in the wheelchair.

"Hi, I'm George, the game host." The man on the other side of the desk said, and smiled a bit.

"Arthur."

"Alfred, a lucky winner!" The boy next to him laughed, sounding a bit nervous. He also had a distinct American accent. George chuckled pretentiously at Alfred's words and continued:

"It seems we have two winners. I hope you realize how unbelievably tiny of the chances of this were. But just to be sure, can I have a look at those cards of yours?"

Arthur and Alfred robotically gave their cards to George.

Arthur looked at the man who was busy looking at the cards. What if he had heard wrongly? Maybe he didn't win anything at all... The thoughts swarmed his brain.

"Well, I am happy to tell you both that they are correct." George said after a painful silence. Arthur's and Alfred's face both turned into a small smile as well.

"However you both must be thinking how does one split a villa for two winners, huh?" George said and laughed. Alfred did slightly as well, but it didn't pass on to Arthur. George noted Arthur's neutral face, and continued.

"Well, I suggest this." Arthur was all ears.

"The main prize was the villa for a month and a person to bring with you for the trip, all expenses paid." Both boys were listening closely. "I thought that you two could spend the month in the villa, together."

Arthur's eyes went wide. A month with a stranger in the middle of nowhere? What were they thinking!

"Sounds good!" Alfred exclaimed too loud and Arthur looked at him.

"I don't have anyone to bring with me, and since I just moved here, it would be a great chance to get to know each other."

' _But he barely knows my name…_ ' Arthur thought, and questioned how anyone could be so ready to just, spend a month with a stranger.

"Good." George said, and turned to face Arthur.

"What do you think Arthur?"

Was he just supposed to know that? He had no idea what to answer. The rational side of him said that it could be a bad idea, Alfred could be a total asshole. But the other side told that those blue eyes could be trusted. And living like a king in a villa would beat sitting in a dusty house in Liverpool any day!

Then, he stopped thinking too much and just blurted out:

"Sure."

Both George and Alfred smiled, and he was given a few papers to sign. Meanwhile, George gave them the details.

"You will leave by bus this Sunday, and will return after a full 30 days. We will hand you both keys to it. The villa is next to the sea and is a bit isolated. If the weather ever gets a bit better than this, I would recommend you try out the nature path here and here…."

As George kept talking, Arthur was unsure if he should be regretting his decision to go. He really felt like this was too much for the shy bookworm he was. On the other hand Alfred did seem like a nice guy. But he had first seen him a bit over five minutes ago though, so he didn't want to get his hopes up just yet. But as he saw the boy talking with George he really couldn't take his eyes off the other's brown hair. Arthur didn't even realize he was staring until he was asked something about the trip and he snapped out of it.

"Earth to Arthur, this is Alfred. Hello?" Alfred said as he waved his hand in front of Arthur's eyes.

"Yes, what is it?" Arthur replied, dazzled.

"Let me repeat it for you dude. The bus leaves at 7:30 am and the trip back as well. The trip will probably take most of the day. You think those times suit your schedule?" Arthur suddenly felt his cheeks go slightly red for some inexplicable reason as he looked into the serious blue eyes.

"Yeah…they are fine." He mumbled, turning to look at something else than Alfred.

"Great!" Alfred jumped up from his chair and smiled brightly. "See you on Sunday!" he said, and before Arthur could say anything more, the boy was gone.

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 **So, what do you think? I tried to not have grammar errors, but you are blind to your own mistakes. Feedback is appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I should have probably done the 1000 other things I have to do instead of writing this... But hey, if you feel like writing, write! it's more fun like that.**

 **Anyways here it is!**

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 **Bingo! Chapter 2, by A True Shipper**

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Arthur kept thinking about Alfred and the trip for the rest of the day. Even though he chatted about the bingo victory for ages with Bethany (who thought Arthur's good luck in bingo had just passed down from her to him), he was a bit spaced out.

His thoughts wondered about the villa, the bus trip, but they especially kept coming back to Alfred. He tried to divert his thoughts to something else than the color of his hair, but failed. It was exciting to be kind of forced into all of this.

Even though Arthur had some friends, they had all been friends with him for a long time. His friend from childhood, Kiku, had said that Arthur needed time to form relationships. It was very true; Arthur was shy around new people and only really opened up to those he knew well. But that was why being forced into a house with a stranger for a month was scary yet fascinating;

He would get to know Alfred, whether they ended up as friends or foes.

And this lack of choice made it interesting.

The next few days were agony. They had no real content, anything important that happened on the Friday or Saturday always involved something with the trip, like packing stuff, calling his friends about it or promising Bethany he would come back home in one piece. Kiku had told him to have fun, but to keep in touch in case he really would be stuck with some idiot for a month. There were butterflies in his stomach when he went to bed at Saturday night.

His alarm ringed way too early the next day, but unlike usually, he actually got up the first time his alarm clock started ringing.

He was ready for the world in less than 30 minutes, the time usually spent on pressing the "snooze" button.

He had thrown on a red sweater and a white tee underneath, along with light gray jeans. He found himself styling his usually low-maintenance hair longer that early morning. Long enough for him to panic about the time and eating three pancakes in record time. He hugged Bethany and after their goodbye he ran to the bus station.

However since he was carrying a ton of clothes and bags with him he barely made it. It was 7:20 when he finally got to board the long haul bus.

He looked around to spot Alfred at the back of the bus, and they made eye contact. Alfred smiled brightly and gestured Arthur to come join him at the back. He happily obliged and sat down at the last row of the almost empty bus.

The bus was supposed to make it to Plymouth at least by tomorrow, and it was not going to stop anywhere. It wasn't a big bus; two seats on both sides of the little passage from the front of the bus to the back and a bathroom at the end next to them. There were no meals, so Arthur had to bring his own. Otherwise, it was a very normal bus trip.

"Hey!" Alfred said as Arthur sat down.

"Hi!" Arthur said, out of breath from the running.

Alfred gave him a little time to catch his breath, and continued:

"This is so awesome dude! I've never won like, anything, and now I get to go to a villa and a cool trip and all!" He explained, grinning.

His smile was infectious, and Arthur grinned too.

Since there were three seats at the back, they made the one next to the bathroom a storage area for all their packed lunches and dinners and random bags. There were overhead compartments, but Alfred said he already stuffed them full of his luggage.

"How much stuff did you bring with you if it takes our entire storage space?" Arthur asked jokingly.

"Well, I brought a few bags of crisps and sweets. And some board- and card games!" He smiled and offered some chocolates for Arthur.

"Thanks, at least we won't get bored if this weather continues like this." Arthur said, biting into a small chocolate bar.

Arthur couldn't understand how Alfred could talk to him like they were best friends so effortlessly. And even more confusing was how Arthur himself didn't shy away from his idle small talk.

However both had slept far too little, and the conversation died down as Alfred fell asleep leaning to the window of the bus. Arthur didn't bother fighting sleep either, and leaned to the stack of bags on his right.

Time passed and as Arthur woke up again, he saw a rare phenomenon.

The sun!

'The universe must think this is funny…' Arthur thought, annoyed. The one day he is supposed to stay inside a metal can for 10 hours, the sun comes out.

He looked at the still sleeping Alfred. He looked peaceful in his sleep, and he snored very quietly. The Brit smiled and opened the little booklet about the villa. He had read it through so many times already, but now that he was actually going there, it was worth reading again, right?

He read the first sentence of the booklet only to be distracted by a silent "Hi." from his left.

Arthur nearly had a heart attack from the scare and yelped slightly as he moved away from the sound.

Alfred burst out laughing and Arthur only now realized that the voice had actually just been Alfred. He was not exactly as amused as Alfred, but the joy on the other's face was enough to bring him to a small smile as well.

Alfred laughed at least for a minute straight, and finally calmed down enough to say:

"You should have seen your face!" and started chuckling. "Shut up…" Arthur muttered and playfully elbowed him to stop.

Alfred stopped laughing, but was still grinning like an idiot when he spoke:

"Dude! We should totally play this game to get to know each other!" He pulled a little packet of cards from the pocket of his blue jeans and held it proudly in front of Arthur's eyes.

"What is it?" Arthur asked.

"Can't you read? It's called _The Story of My life!"_ Alfred said.

"Of course I can read the text!" Arthur said, annoyingly looking at the giant words covering the entire side of the card pack.

"But I have no idea what it's about. I've never played or even heard of that card game!" He said, glaring at Alfred now, annoyed.

"It's simple really!" Alfred chirped, totally ignoring the look Arthur was giving him.

"You pull out a random card from the pack, and it has a word on it. Once you have seen it, you have to tell what you think about it or how it is a part of your life. Even better if you have a story about it!"

"Eh…" Arthur replied, still not getting the idea.

"Let me give you an example! If I get the word _chocolate,_ I can tell you why I love it so much or how I once almost burned my house down making chocolate chip cookies." He said, an excited grin on his face.

Arthur finally felt like he got the hang of it and replied:

"I think I kinda get it now…"

"Good!" Alfred said with a huge smile and Arthur wondered if Alfred ever stopped smiling or grinning.

The two turned so they faced each other, and Alfred placed the pack in between the cushions of their seats, just so it stayed up and it was easy to take a card from it.

"I'll start!" Alfred said and pulled a card from the pack. He looked at it and showed it to Arthur as well. The black font on the white background spelled " _University_ ".

Alfred didn't think about what to answer for too long and started:

"Now I know! I moved from Washington D.C to study here in Liverpool. I will start studying at the University of Liverpool this fall!"

"So you are from the US?" Arthur asked, even though the answer was obvious.

"Yep, lived there all my life!" Alfred replied.

Arthur picked up a card as well and read the word " _Age_ ". He showed it to Alfred and the boy gave him an expecting look.

"Uhh…" Arthur stuttered.

"Well… I am nineteen. I guess that's all you can really say about that?" Arthur said.

"I just turned nineteen yesterday!" Alfred said, grinning from ear to ear. Arthur just smiled back and mumbled a "congrats".

The game went on for at least an hour or so. The two both learned a lot about each other, and laughed every now and then.

But the game did get serious when Arthur told about his parents. He had no memory of either one, but Bethany had many pictures of them. When he mentioned it, he saw Alfred's smile turn into a slightly sad expression. Then, he had told Arthur about his own parents, which were rarely home and slightly distant.

The game slowly descended into a talk until it died down as well. Arthur thought that Alfred really seemed to like to talk and socialize, and that was good. Arthur really thought that he should socialize more, and talking with Alfred was good practice.

However Arthur was a bit surprised himself when he kept talking and talking. It all felt like it was so natural to talk with Alfred. And natural and effortless socializing was not exactly a daily thing for Arthur.

The rest of the bus ride went by dreadfully slowly.

The bus got stuck in traffic and the sun heated the air inside the bus. Alfred had to take off his hoodie and Arthur his sweater since it was excruciatingly hot. The two moved to the right-hand side seats, since it was in the shade. Then, if it wasn't enough, the air conditioning broke down.

Arthur thought it was almost comical as all of the maybe 10 passengers of the bus had moved to the shade and as close to the opened roof window at the center of the bus. The bus had made it about one third of the trip when the clock hit 11:35 and Alfred had had enough.

"Dude, this is so not cool!" Alfred said as he fanned the end of his shirt up and down to keep himself cool.

"Yeah, this sucks." Arthur mumbled. He was feeling drowsy from the heat and found himself tired. He leaned to the cool window and closed his eyes.

When Arthur woke up again he felt nauseous. He was like a dog, stuck in a car in a parking lot and just waiting for his owner to come back and give his some relief from the heat. However the driver of the bus was determined to get to Plymouth without stops and as Arthur looked at the clock at the front of the bus, he noted he still had many hours left of the trip.

As Arthur lifted his gaze he found Alfred reading some book.

"How can you do anything in this heat?" Arthur said and the American turned his head to look at him.

"I can't, I'm just trying to stay distracted from the heat…" Alfred mumbled and turned the page."

Arthur didn't bother replying anything, but instead visited the bathroom and drank at least a whole bottle of water.

This agony continued for another 30 minutes or so, until Arthur saw something in the corner of his eye.

From the front window of the bus he could see clouds in the horizon. And they were fast approaching.

Arthur elbowed the American and gestured at the clouds ahead. Alfred's face lit up with a smile. Arthur smiled too, he had never been so happy for bad weather in his life.

The clouds came over the bus in mere minutes, and after a bit, it started raining. Someone started clapping and laughed as the rain started pouring down, and soon the other people of the bus laughed and clapped as well, relieved since the excruciating heat was being steadily killed by English weather.

Arthur felt the relief of coldness spreading throughout the bus and Alfred suggested some other card game, which they played for a good while. After Alfred had won ten times and Arthur twice, they decided to have a late lunch.

Arthur had some simple ham and cheese sandwiches and some water, but Alfred had way more food; PB&J sandwiches, turkey sandwiches, strawberry juice and a packet of muesli bars.

The American probably noticed the jealous look Arthur had, and offered him a muesli bar. Arthur smiled and took the bar. He thanked the American and dug his teeth to the bar. He was instantly shocked by how much sugar and chocolate he could taste, but it wasn't a bad flavor. There was just no way the bar could be healthy and nutritious as the packaging read.

The rest of the trip was uneventful; the rain continued and the boys played one more game Alfred had with him. After that, the two read books or chatted or listened to the radio of the bus.

After many long hours of waiting, the bus reached the outskirts of the city. Alfred started chatting with Arthur excitedly about the villa and how they were finally here. Arthur could relate fully to the American's excitement; they were _finally_ here!

His watch showed that it was around eight in the evening when they reached the bus station at Plymouth.

"About time!" Alfred grinned as he stepped out to the fresh air outside, and Arthur took a deep breath of the cool air himself. They dragged out the rest of their luggage from the storage area at the side of the bus, and Alfred called them a taxi.

A black Volkswagen was at the station soon, and the two were off to their villa. Arthur was drowsy and tired for the rest of the trip, and he noted that Alfred looked tired as well.

They sat in the car for longer than Arthur thought they would. The villa was truly isolated from everything, and they had been told by George that the closest store was at least four kilometers away.

After a 15-minute drive, the two boys found themselves in front of a villa in rain, and they were dazzled.

Arthur didn't think the bingo club could get their hands on something as gorgeous as the building in front of him, but was proven wrong by his green eyes.

The boys were standing at the path from the road to the villa's entrance. Around the path were flowers and long grass, obviously not cared for in a long time. The path itself was straight, and led to the right side of the villa, where there was a glass door.

The modern looking villa reflected the little light that got through the clouds brightly from its white exterior walls. There was a huge window the left of the door, reaching from the top to the bottom of the first floor of the villa, and a horizontal one above the door on the second floor. The villa had a flat roof and if the booklet was right, a large balcony on the back of the building.

All in all it was actually really minimalistic in Arthur's mind, but he didn't mind. He was taken aback by the drastic difference between Bethany's house and this.

Alfred however gave him no more time to think and wonder as he snatched Arthur's hand and started dragging him to the entrance. They moved slowly in the rain because of the amount of stuff they were carrying with them, but soon enough they reached the glass door.

Alfred shoved his hand into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a key. He struggled with the door for a bit until the door slid to the right to open.

The two rushed inside, there was no cover overhead the door, just a flat wall, and the two were soaking wet from the rain.

They entered into a hallway with wooden closets painted black on the right wall and the left leading straight into what seemed to be the living room.

Arthur was extremely tired from all of the travelling and just threw his two big bags to the corner next to the door. Alfred did the same, and they started doing a little tour inside the villa.

Arthur went left since there was no other way to go from the little entrance room to the living room.

It wasn't as big as it appeared from the outside. It was square room with white walls with a long black leather sofa facing the large window. The floor was dark wood. Between the sofa and the window was a rectangular table with black legs and a glass pane on top of them as the surface of the table. At the opposite side of the window wall was the kitchen and dining room, which were both styled black and had a modern look to them. The table was small, made for two, and had a view to the sea from it. The kitchen was next to the staircase, which was behind the wall of the entrance room.

Arthur was looking around like he had never seen a house before, and it was clear that a house this modern was new to him.

"Wow!" Arthur said as his tiredness faded away.

"I know right? This is so awesome dude!" Alfred said as he looked around the downstairs. Arthur couldn't do much more than smile in agreement. The two then went on to climb the stairs.

The stairs looped around and had their own, thin, vertical window visible from them. There was also a door to what Arthur assumed was the balcony from the tall room, but didn't investigate. He didn't want to go outside to the rain, he was already cold and wet.

When Arthur reached the end of the stairs he saw a large window, just like the one downstairs. It faced the opposite side however and if it hadn't been raining he could have seen the sea from there. On the windowless side of the room at the back was a black wooden door leading into what he assumed was the bathroom. The floor was the same material as downstairs.

There was exactly one big white and black bed with its back facing the large window, and two black modern bookcases and a table between them on the windowless side. There was an office chair next to the table. A few large, round black bean bags were near the bed.

"Wait a second…" Arthur said.

"..Why is there just one bed?" The American completed the brit's sentence and they just looked at each other for a bit.

"...Well the bed is mine! Have fun sleeping on the couch!" Alfred chirped and stepped toward to the bed.

"No way!" Arthur blurted and grabbed the back of Alfred's tee. The boy turned back and looked him in the eyes.

Arthur was supposed to make some comment how Alfred deserved to sleep on the couch downstairs, but the look that the American gave him made it all go away. Some weird feeling overtook his thinking and he said instead:

"We can…share it? I-I mean I will call George about where the hell the other bed we were promised is tomorrow, but I don't want to sleep on a couch…" Arthur felt like a total idiot saying this to a person he hadn't known for even a week. Hell, it sounded stupid if said to anyone anyway.

"Whatever, just don't snore." The American replied after a moment and Arthur thought he saw the slightest blush on him when he turned back to face the bed.

The two then changed to some dry night clothes, even though Arthur usually slept naked when at home. However that was out of the question when he was sharing a bed with Alfred*.

The two were extremely tired from the trip, so soon after they had settled into the bed (as far away from each other with their backs facing the others), they fell asleep.

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 ***Arthur sleeping naked in the same bed as Alfred? Yes... how weird would that be...(insert evil laughter here).**

 **As always I tried my very best to not have errors in the writing, but you are blind to your own mistakes...**

 **I hope you people got at least a basic understanding of how the villa looks. It was kind of new to describe something in such detail, but I think I made it kinda work?**

 **Feedback is appreciated!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again!**

 **It has been slightly busy for the last few days, but I finally found the time to write this :D**

 **This is a bit of a shorter chapter than the last two, but I think it still does the job. And you can see where I am going with this fic; slice-of-life style, slow-ish pace and a bit of fluff every there and there. Don't worry tho; it isn't all fluff, it does have a plot :P**

 **/And as Erzsirobin pointed out, the winning number of 69 in chapter 1 was indeed intentional. Its _always_ the winning number for Alfred and Arthur ;)**

 **(I still sadly don't own Hetalia.)**

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Bingo! Chapter 3, by A True Shipper

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Arthur woke the next day to the blinding light flooding in from the massive window behind him. Arthur took his pillow and tried to block out the light by placing it over his eyes; he wanted to sleep. But he had already woken up, and after a minute he threw the pillow off his head and sat up in defeat.

As Arthur rubbed his sleepy eyes, he noticed that Alfred was not next to him. However there was some noise coming from downstairs and Arthur figured it had to be him.

Arthur turned his head to look out of the window. There, he saw a blue ocean maybe a hundred meters away. The waves reflected the bright light of the sun beautifully and the sky above it had only a few fluffy clouds, lazily making their way across the heavens. In the space between the villa and the sea, there were flowers and grass, waving in the wind.

Arthur was dazzled of the beauty of the scene and stared outside for a while, until he reluctantly turned away as his eyes started hurting from the brightness. Then, he heard footsteps from the stairs and turned to look at them, just in time to spot Alfred.

"Dude, you are finally awake!" He yelled to Arthur. He didn't let the brit to say anything before he continued:

"We really need to go shopping today. We only really have candy and crisps, and while I love them, I want some real food as well." He said as he walked right next to the bed.

"How are we going to get to the store? Wasn't the closest one a while away?" Arthur asked as he left the bed and stood up, matching Alfred in height.

"I don't know man. I didn't see any bikes or stuff here, and if we walk there, I think the food will be spoiled in this heat." Alfred said. Arthur sighed.

"Maybe we just are going to have to call a taxi…" Arthur suggested sounding defeated. Alfred nodded in agreement and disappeared downstairs to let Arthur swap to his normal clothes.

After putting on a pair of simple beige shorts like Alfred had and a red tee, Arthur walked downstairs to the kitchen. He was starving, but just as Alfred had told, there was nothing suitable for a proper breakfast. So instead, he ate two chocolate bars and washed it down with some lemon soda.

After his disappointing breakfast the two called for a taxi to come pick them up. A half hour passed, but then a taxi appeared next to the villa, similar to the one Arthur had been in yesterday.

After a short drive they arrived to the little store. It was in an area what seemed to be full of summer homes. There were many people to be seen outside their homes; kids playing, adults chatting and the scent of grilled sausages and other foods was noticeable.

"Man, smell that?" Alfred asked Arthur as he was about to enter the store.

"Yeah, we really should grill something as well." Arthur replied, even though by "we" he meant Alfred, since the brit was extremely bad at making any sort of food.

The two walked into the little store to find it relatively empty of people. Arthur grabbed a shopping cart. He pushed the cart to the section next to the door.

"We better get a lot of food, I don't want to have to start going here frequently by taxi." Arthur said and Alfred replied by nodding.

The two walked around the store picking up just about everything they liked. The trip had come with a good sum of money to spend on anything the winner (or in this case, winners) wanted on their trip, so Arthur found himself picking more expensive products than usual.

"I think what you said about grilling some food was a great idea, we should totally grab something to grill from here!" Alfred exclaimed as they walked to the section of the store with meat. Arthur had a look at the selection and suggested the chicken skewers. Alfred gave him a thumbs up and then disappeared to get the ingredients for hamburgers. Arthur also spotted some cheap corn to grill, and threw it into the almost full shopping cart.

A thought passed through Arthur's mind that shopping together for food with someone was something only couples and families really did, not roommates. He wondered what that made him and Alfred seem like to strangers.

' _But we would make a cute couple…'_ Arthur though and immediately pushed the outrageous thought out of his head.

After their little shopping experience, they took the same taxi back to the villa.

Once there, the two started unloading their massive amounts of food into the refrigerator and cabinets of the kitchen. After the monumental task the refrigerator was absolutely bursting full of food and drinks. Alfred didn't drink alcohol, so they had huge amounts of juice and soda instead. And Arthur didn't mind; the few times he had had anything with alcohol, he had suffered from _terrible_ hangovers afterwards.

"We should start grilling now, I'm starving and who knows what the weather will be like a few hours from now." Arthur suggested.

"Good, I'm starving as well. Ill grab some stuff, go have a look at the grill at the balcony." Arthur nodded and walked the little distance to the balcony door next to the stairs.

When he opened the window he was greeted by the warmth of the sun and a slight cool wind to balance it out. Arthur smiled, he was happy to have some good weather for once.

The balcony was a square, slightly in the air since the villa was on top of a small slope. The floor was made of light brown wood planks and the railing were of black metal. There were wooden steps down to the inviting green grass before the sea at the very back right corner, and Arthur almost wanted to go running there, like a small child without a care in the world.

The balcony had an outdoor table and chairs for two, and a big gray grill next to the wall of the villa. There were also a few white deck chairs pointing at the sea.

"Hey Arthur, help me with these!" Arthur heard Alfred's voice behind him say and he snapped out of his trance of just looking around in awe.

"Sure." Arthur mumbled and took some of the stuff the American was carrying with what seemed like great effort. He then noticed they had way too much food for just two, but Arthur felt like he deserved the feast.

Alfred and Arthur dumped the various foodstuffs to the little outdoor dining table and moved it closer to the grill to make a makeshift kitchen.

"Right! Whaddya wanna start making?" Alfred asked, smiling.

"Uhm… I kind of have a reputation for being a terrible cook…" Arthur said, looking at his feet and laughing nervously.

"That's alright! We don't have anything that requires expert skills to make here. But if you want, I can take over the grill and you could start working on the salad and cutting those corn cobs into halves, sound good?" Alfred asked, still smiling and Arthur smiled back at him as a sign of agreement.

As Arthur thought, even using the simple knife was a challenge. He cut the two corn cobs in half with relative ease, but preparing the salad was more difficult.

Cutting the salad leaves and other ingredients was itself a bit of a struggle, but he was also supposed to make some salad dressing. Arthur had the recipe with him, but managed to read some of it wrongly since it was hard to read because it was wet from some of the vinegar he spilled earlier.

He ended up with a weird mix of mayonnaise and a ton of vinegar with a lot of pepper. There were also lemon seeds mixed in the "dressing" since he failed to catch them when he tried to squeeze them for the juice. He didn't really think it through when he mixed the huge amount of "dressing" with the salad and ended up with a wet mess of vegetables which smelled strongly of vinegar.

Alfred, on the other hand, had filled the balcony with the lovely smell of grilled meat. Arthur cleaned up the little table of the mess he had made and set plates and a jug of ice tea on the table. Alfred brought in some chicken skewers with burger patties and slightly toasted hamburger buns, along with the corn.

"Wow, it all smells so good!" Arthur complimented Alfred and had a slight bit of jealousy towards his skills of not destroying all food he touches.

The two then sat down and started gathering all kinds of food onto their plates. Arthur saw the puddle of vinegar which spread through Alfred's plate as he grabbed some of Arthur's attempt of a salad. He didn't comment on it though.

"Alright, let's dig in!" Alfred exclaimed and started devouring his burger.

"Let's." Arthur said and took a bite of the amazingly good chicken. Arthur looked how Alfred ate through all of his food amazingly fast. However he didn't take a single bite of Arthur's salad.

"All of this is so good! Alfred complimented himself and looked at the salad on his plate.

"I understand if you don't want to eat it…" Arthur said quietly, sounding almost hurt, which he slightly was.

"No no no no! It's probably really good as well!" Alfred tried to convince Arthur and took a large forkful of the salad, and shoved it into his mouth.

Arthur could see the look in the American's eyes. He had hated it! Arthur was not surprised, but suddenly he felt like he hadn't really done anything for the meal and Alfred was probably not too impressed of his skills in the kitchen. And somehow Alfred's opinion seemed to suddenly have a huge meaning in his mind.

"Dude, this is fucking amazing!" Arthur looked at the American puzzled as he ate more of the salad. Arthur knew he was obviously bluffing, but it warmed his heart that he at least pretended to like the salad.

' _A true gentleman.'_ He thought when he looked at the man with a warm smile.

"Thanks for the salad, it was really good!" Alfred said and stood up to start cleaning up. Arthur followed his example.

"The grilling was even better, thanks for it." Arthur said as he took the empty plates to the dishwasher.

After their little feast Arthur wanted to lay down for a bit. He then remembered the inviting grassy field next to the balcony and headed over there.

The long grass tickled his feet as he laid down on it. Arthur listened to the birds chirping and the almost silent sound of the waves. The smell of flowers was intoxicating and Arthur felt like he had reached a small part of heaven.

A quiet pair of footsteps came closer to his little paradise and he looked over to see Alfred laying down almost next to him.

"Isn't it lovely here?" Arthur asked the boy.

"Yeah, and look at the clouds!" Alfred replied and Arthur looked at the few puffy clouds floating above them.

"They are beautiful!" Arthur exclaimed. Arthur had always loved the outdoors when he was little, but his passion for the outdoors had faded with age. But now he felt like the seven-year old version of himself, and while he was too young to say that he felt like young again, he still somehow did.

"Look at that one!" Alfred pointed his hand to the sky. "It looks like a unicorn!" He said and Arthur chuckled a little at his child-like behavior. But the cloud did indeed look like a unicorn, and Arthur smiled.

Somehow that moment was like heaven to Arthur.

Later that day the two still slept in the same bed, and even though Arthur had remembered that he should call George about the bed, a part of him decided to 'forget' it. He was actually, for some reason, keen on sleeping close to Alfred and do everything with him.

And Alfred never complained when the two slept in the same bed again that night.

* * *

 **There we go! As always might have a few errors there and there, but i'm only human. Feedback is appreciated!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Phew, I finally got it done. I actually wrote this chapter once before, but I decided It was way too angsty and came up with this. I hope it doesn't disappoint!**

 **(PS. now with 100% more SuFin. You are welcome.)**

* * *

 **Bingo! Chapter 4, by A True Shipper**

* * *

For the next few days, it rained. Arthur had suspected it, there was no way they could have many sunny days in a row, not in England anyway. Luckily he didn't mind living indoors for many days in a row, he had gotten used to this anyway. Alfred, however, seemed bored out of his mind.

He had managed to get by Tuesday and Wednesday, but when Arthur walked downstairs from the bedroom on Thursday morning and saw Alfred making breakfast, he saw anger and annoyance in the American's eyes.

"Good morning." Arthur said as he walked over to the stove to see what Alfred was making.

"It would be, if it wasn't raining all the goddamn time…" Alfred said, anger in his voice as he flipped the bacon on the frying pan.

Arthur hadn't really been annoyed by Alfred before, but this was getting on his nerves. Unlike Arthur, Alfred seemed to need some time outside and activity every day. When he didn't, he was restless and bad company. And Arthur was the one who had to stand all that, he was the one stuck in the villa with him anyway.

Arthur glanced at Alfred annoyed, but hid his anger for the American like the gentleman he was.

"We should go visit someplace today. You don't seem too keen on staying inside playing board games and reading books…" Arthur said and the American looked at him.

"Like where?" Alfred asked with slight curiosity.

Arthur picked up the little booklet about their villa from the kitchen counter and started reading.

"How about a museum?" Arthur asked, even though he knew the answer already.

"Boring!" Alfred exclaimed and snatched the booklet for himself.

"Oh! There is an indoor sports hall!" Alfred exclaimed with a grin.

"No way!" Arthur replied angry and snatched the booklet back. Arthur didn't see how an indoor sports hall could ever be fun since Arthur hated most sports with burning passion.

"Come on! It will be fun!" Alfred tried to convince him. Arthur shook his head.

"Aww… Well I don't want to go alone, so if not there, where?" Alfred asked and Arthur was glad he had dropped the idea of an indoor sports hall.

"Maybe the booklet has some more suggestions." Arthur said and opened the "Activities" section so that they both could see it.

"Rafting! That's like, the coolest thing ever!" Alfred exclaimed with a grin and Arthur didn't know how the boy had spotted the text after looking at the page for just a split second. Arthur however did slightly like what he heard. He had been rafting a few years ago with some of his cousins, and while Arthur had been terrified at first, the experience had actually been pretty enjoyable. There was of course the chance that this rafting place they were going to could be much more extreme than he would like.

"…Okay, but no extreme routes." He found himself saying with slight caution and the smile on Alfred's face warmed his heart.

"Okay!" Alfred repeated and lifted his spatula in victory.

Arthur smiled at the childish gesture and said;

"Alfred, the bacon is burning."

* * *

After a breakfast of burned bacon and eggs, the two took a taxi to the rafting river. Arthur wasn't too happy they kept using the taxi to get everywhere, but neither Alfred of Arthur could drive, so a rental car was out of the option.

Arthur stepped out of the taxi to find himself standing in light rain outside an old, small wooden building which stood close to a river. He only saw a few cars, and the little building was seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

Arthur thanked and paid the driver the absurd sum the trip took, and he and Alfred walked through the door to the building.

Arthur felt a comfy warmth engulf him as he stepped inside and saw a little wooden desk occupied by someone who seemed like a receptionist. There were also few blue benches next to the walls and a few paintings about rivers and nature there and there.

Alfred walked to the tall man at the reception.

"Hi! We would like a rafting trip. …A calm one, if that's possible." He added as he heard the cough from Arthur.

"Greetings. We have a few seats left on our next trip, which is in about ten minutes." Arthur heard the very low and monotone voice say. The blonde receptionist said this with a slight accent Arthur thought sounded Swedish.

"Sure, sounds great! How much is it?" Alfred chirped and paid the sum the receptionist mumbled to him.

"Good, please put all important and non-waterproof things into those lockers." The receptionist told and pointed to some gray lockers in the corner of the little room Arthur hadn't seen before.

After sharing a locker to lock up their stuff and memorizing the code to it, they sat down on the benches to wait. There were no other customers, probably due to the weather and the minutes passed while Arthur talked with Alfred.

Then, out of the blue, a figure walked in to the room.

"Hi! You two must be our customers. I'm Tino, and I'll be your guide today." The blonde man said and before Arthur could even greet him back, Alfred jumped up to shake Tino's hand.

"Hi! I'm Alfred, and he's Arthur, my friend." Arthur felt a wave of happiness wash over him as Alfred called him his friend, and Arthur stood up as well.

"Hello." Arthur greeted politely.

Tino seemed taken aback by Alfred's hypersociality, but then smiled hesitantly and said:

"Follow me."

The trio walked through the door. They went around the building and continued to the slowly flowing river. Arthur saw three navy blue inflatable rafts on rocks next to the river.

The trio stopped next to them and Tino turned to face Alfred and Arthur.

"Before we go, I'd like to give you a few instructions." Arthur and Alfred just nodded in response.

"The river you see here flows slowly at the start here, so we have a bit of time until we get to the good bit. You both need life jackets and helmets, you will find them over there." Tino explained and pointed to some cabinets next to the back wall of the reception building.

Arthur and Alfred made their way there and Arthur found a bright orange life jacket of his size fairly easily. He then put on a horrible looking neon green helmet. Arthur was happy he remembered to take a raincoat and boots; the place didn't seem to rent them.

Alfred also found a matching lifejacket and a helmet, and luckily had been reminded by Arthur to bring waterproof clothing. They both looked ridiculous, but who cared?

Alfred and Arthur walked back to Tino to find him wearing similar gear. There was however a small boy, maybe ten, next to him.

Tino noted the questioning looks Alfred and Arthur were giving the boy, and spoke up.

"This is my son, Peter. Since we have room for one more, he wanted to come along." Tino explained.

"Aren't you… a bit young to go rafting Peter?" Arthur said and looked down to meet the boy's blue eyes.

"Don't get cocky! I might be a bit young, but I'm way braver than my father when it comes to rafting!" The boy stated confident, and Arthur saw Tino nod, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Good to hear! I'm Alfred and this is Arthur." Alfred said with a grin and nudged Arthur.

"Yeah, hi." Arthur said shortly.

Peter looked at the two for a bit.

"Is he, like your boyfriend or something?" Peter asked with an innocent curiosity and Alfred and Arthur both looked at the boy and blushed at the exact same moment.

"No, just friends." Alfred said hesitantly and Arthur just nodded. But Arthur didn't help but think; did they look like a couple?

"Oh okay, I was just curious. Let's get going!" The boy chirped and tugged Tino's sleeve.

"Erm… yeah. It's best we get going." Tino said, seemingly embarrassed of Peter's words.

* * *

Soon, the four of them were sitting on a raft in the middle of the river, slowly moving with the stream. The weather had improved; the rain had stopped and there were a few cracks of light shining through the clouds.

Arthur was excited. He was a bit scared of what was to come, but if Peter was coming along, surely the trip couldn't be too extreme?

Arthur and Alfred were sitting side by side in the front of the raft with Tino and Peter in the back. They had paddles, but they didn't need them at that moment.

"This is going to be so cool!" Alfred exclaimed and Arthur heard a loud "Yeah!" from Peter. Arthur wanted to believe Alfred as well, but was a bit scared, even though he didn't want to admit it even to himself.

The raft made its way lazily down the river, but after a few minutes Arthur noticed the speed was picking up.

"The best part is coming up!" Peter shouted. Arthur didn't know what to expect from the "best part", but then he saw the water foaming in the distance.

The sound of the water was getting louder and louder, and Arthur couldn't help but feel slightly nervous. _'Maybe this was a bad idea after all…'_ He thought.

"Dude, you look pale." Alfred said and elbowed Arthur. The boy snapped back to reality from his worrying and muttered;

"I'm fine."

The raft started rocking up and down with the water. Arthur gripped the handle at the side of the boat tighter. Then, the raft hit the first bump.

The front of the raft rose up, and splashed violently down to the water. The resulting splash of cold water soaked Arthur's face. The raft went through another one, and Arthur's face lost color.

It was then when Arthur realized he might have been overconfident. He had been counting on the fact that he had done this before; but it sure didn't feel like it. The raft was rocking in all directions and Arthur felt sick. Then, he felt a warm hand grab his cold hand. He looked to his right to see Alfred looking at him concerned.

Arthur felt instantly better from the contact, and forced himself to pull it together. He forced the fear that had formed in his gut away. ' _I should be enjoying this, not being afraid!'_ He thought _._

"To the right! Now!" Arthur heard Tino shout. However he didn't have time to do anything before the left side of the raft collided with a rock.

The raft jumped over the small rock and splashed back down violently. All four jolted with the sudden movement and everyone was blasted with ice cold water. Arthur was now actually scared. The collision itself hadn't been that bad, but how did they not see the rock before? Arthur wondered if the route was more extreme than he thought.

But he wasn't alone. When he turned to meet the American's eyes, the overconfidence usually visible from him was gone. There was an expression of concern and slight fear, and Arthur thought he looked out of place and lost.

They didn't get much of a break. The raft's left side tilted upwards and the right downwards. The water was blinding Arthur and the cold water was freezing him. Arthur yelped in panic; what if the raft would flip over? The raft then returned to its normal position with a loud splash and the inside of it was almost halfway full of water. The sound of flowing water was like thunder in Arthur's ears, and in the middle of it all he thought Alfred had tried to say something, but it had been blocked out. Nobody could do anything when the raft suddenly went down the steepest drop yet, and Arthur and Alfred both screamed in panic. it hit the water forcefully, and then the ride calmed slightly. The raft hit one more bump, and Arthur accidentally bit his lip slightly, drawing blood.

The ride smoothened from there on.

"I'm so sorry! We weren't supposed to go through the left side of the river, it's more extreme than the right…" Tino spoke up as the sound of flowing water no longer deafened everything one could try to say. Nobody answered anything.

Arthur looked at Alfred. He looked even more shocked than Arthur was and Arthur barely held back a laugh. He thought it was kind of funny seeing him like that, but was also worried about him. Maybe this ride had been too much for the boy?

"That was so cool! AGAIN DAD!" Arthur heard Peter shout and wondered how the hell the boy found their little trip as "cool". Arthur was still panting, sweaty skin sticking to his clothes and cold water soaking his feet. It hadn't been as bad as it could have gotten, but that wasn't to say it wasn't bad. The scariness of the trip creeped through the adrenaline in Arthur's veins in delay, and he felt thankful to be alive.

"Paddle to the right. Our stop is there." Tino replied, ignoring Peter.

* * *

The four of them were all wet and cold when they finally got back to dry land. Arthur took off his gear like the others and noticed how Alfred was still pale and looked distant. He didn't ask the boy why, but Arthur was concerned for him.

"I texted Berwald. He will come pick up the raft and us soon." Tino said as he lowered his phone, which miraculously had survived their rafting trip.

"Who's he?" Alfred asked with a weird tone of voice Arthur had never heard him use before.

"My husband, the receptionist. I guess he never told you his name, he's a bit antisocial when it comes to new people." Tino continued and started moving his hands against each other to warm them up.

Arthur's mind started connecting the dots. He remembered reading from the booklet about the rafting place being a family business, and he had only seen two men and the boy.

Arthur suddenly felt the connection to Tino, like he always did when he met anyone gay. It was a weird feeling, but seeing someone who plays for the same team was refreshing.

"Okay." Arthur said and tried to warm his hands as well.

A few minutes later a big pick-up truck appeared to the little field they were standing in, and Berwald hopped out. Without a word, he helped Tino lift the raft to the back of the truck.

Arthur sat down to the left back seat of the truck, and Alfred sat next to him, still with the weird look from before. Arthur was now seriously worried; they needed to talk when they got to the villa.

The car rolled back to the building fairly soon, and Arthur and Alfred got back their valuables. Arthur called them a taxi back, and neither talked to each other before or during the taxi trip. However as soon as they reached the door of the villa, Arthur started asking questions.

"What is it Alfred, you've seemed a bit lost since the trip." Arthur asked as soon as he got his coat hung from a hook in the wall.

"Nothing." Alfred lied so obviously it angered Arthur. He grabbed Alfred's hand and tugged him so he turned to look at him instead of walking away from the hallway.

"C'mon, I'm not that dumb. Tell me, you are worrying me." Arthur said truthfully. Alfred sighed in defeat and gestured Arthur to sit with him on the sofa in the living room. They sat down at the opposite ends of the couch, sitting on the low armrests and facing each other.

"Well?" Arthur said questioningly.

"Well… I didn't exactly enjoy our little rafting trip…" Alfred stated slowly and Arthur nodded, encouraging him to continue.

"And I'm normally not really afraid of anything, but I was scared on that raft. As soon as I saw the panic on your face I… got scared. I felt so worried… and… ugh this is stupid!" Alfred looked down with anger in his eyes as he said it.

"It's not stupid to be worried for someone, or being scared. It's normal." Arthur said with a soothing voice he would use to talk to a five-year-old. But he was surprised; was all of this really because Alfred had been scared for what was going to happen to him? He felt slightly flattered, but was taken back to reality by Alfred's voice.

"I know, I know, I'm not five… but I don't want you to be scared, I feel guilty for dragging you with me." Alfred

"Don't be guilty idiot! You weren't in charge of it when we drifted off course to the other side, and if I hadn't wanted to come along, I wouldn't have." Arthur said angrily.

"Yeah yeah… you are right. I just… haven't felt like this in such a long time I'm reacting a bit weirdly." Alfred said as he lifted his head, grinning slightly. Arthur ignored the pretentiousness of it, and then realized how relieved he was to see that smile again. He smiled softly back.

"I don't feel like doing anything even slightly active for the rest of today. Games night?" Arthur asked and Alfred's grin widened into a smile and a laugh.

"Get ready to lose!" Alfred replied with a laugh and Arthur felt stupidly happy Alfred was okay. Or was he? Arthur thought Alfred had slightly faked his laughs and smiles, and this suspicion bothered him slightly for the rest of the day. He even asked himself why he was so worried for Alfred all of the sudden, but still he had a gut feeling Alfred wasn't telling the whole truth.

 _'Something is wrong.'_ His gut told him while the two played _Moneypoly_.

* * *

 **Here ends the almost plot-free fluff, expect some twists next chapter. As always tried really hard to make my grammar and stuff not suck, but do tell me if I missed something or the story doesn't make sense somehow.**

 **I guess it was in character for Peter (Sealand) to be brave with water and all, his country is in the middle of it all anyway. I'm from Finland, and we don't call it the land of thousands of lakes for nothing. I guess Tino is pretty comfortable with water as well then.**

 **(Idk if there are any rafting opportunities in actual Plymouth, but in this AU there is.)**

 **Until next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

**First off I want to thank everyone who has been reading and especially reviewing this! It means so much to me :3**

 **Anyways as I promised this chapter will add some twists into this plot, so it might almost feel out-of-place, the change is so drastic.**

* * *

 **Bingo! Chapter 5, by A True Shipper**

* * *

When the first beams of sunlight came through the massive windows of the villa's bedroom the next day, Arthur woke up. He was surprised he had awoken this early; the clock on his smartphone displayed the black numbers of "6:23". He would have tried to fall asleep again, if he hadn't seen the other side of the double bed empty. Arthur wondered if Alfred always woke up so early, but then again the brit had always woken up after him.

Arthur decided that he probably couldn't sleep with the blinding light flooding from the windows and when he stood up, he thought who designed the bedroom. It was fine excluding the windows, which were a massive ' _fuck you'_ to sleep. And there was no way of closing them. Arthur sighed in defeat.

Arthur walked downstairs, still wearing his turquoise pyjamas. He reached the end of the stairs and looked to the living room. Arthur smiled when he saw the recognizable light brown hair peaking over the back of the black sofa.

"Good morning Alfred. A bit early don't you think?" Arthur said, yawning when he finished his sentence.

No answer.

"Alfred?" Arthur asked slightly louder. He was a bit worried now; there was no way he hadn't heard that!

Then, Arthur could hear a faint sob. _'Is Alfred crying?'_ Arthur asked himself and got the answer to his question as the sobbing sound was heard again, clearer.

"Alfred! Is something wrong?" Arthur asked genuinely worried and started slowly walking to the sofa.

"A-Arthur…" A faint voice belonging to the American reached Arthur's ears and he continued;

"W-why are you... awake so early…" Alfred said with a sad voice, sobbing after saying it. Arthur walked faster after hearing his voice and decided not to answer till he got to the same side of the sofa as Alfred.

Once he looped around the left side of the sofa he looked at the boy in shock.

Alfred had pyjamas with the U.S flag colors on and was currently in a ball, his feet pulled up from the floor to the sofa and his head against them. His hands were weak, his right hand gently holding his phone. It was buzzing violently every five seconds and Arthur saw as it slowly fell from Alfred's grip. The boy himself was crying, but clearly muffling the sobs.

Arthur was filled with panic and shock instantly when he saw the figure. He had never seen Alfred like that before, and it was breaking his heart in so many ways he felt being pulled apart. What was he supposed to do?

"W-what's wrong Alfred?" Arthur asked, ignoring Alfred's previous question and failing to hide the shock in his voice. The boy didn't answer.

"Alfred?" Arthur tried pleadingly, but to no avail. Arthur was so worried for him, but was getting angry at his stubbornness.

"Answer me!" Arthur said angrily and shocked as he walked right next to the American, and instantly regretted his angry tone as the boy lifted his head.

"THAT'S NONE OF YOUR BUISNESS!" Alfred shouted with anger and sadness in his voice. Arthur gasped and stepped back in shock from the shout and the sight of the boy's face.

Alfred's face was red and tears rolled freely from his blurry blue eyes down his red cheeks. His hair was a messier than what was first visible from the stairs.

"It's none…of your…business…" He repeated weakly and Arthur was still so dazzled that when Alfred sat up and all but ran upstairs, crying loudly as he did so, Arthur couldn't find the strength to chase him to demand answers.

Instead, he sat down onto the sofa and started to just think. Oh how he _hated_ himself for yelling at Alfred! His head quickly turned Alfred's situation into being all his fault, and tears of false guilt started to roll down his cheeks as well. His brain was unstoppable; it analyzed every memory Arthur had with Alfred, finding "evidence" that all of Alfred's weird behavior was his fault. A part of him even realized how stupid it was, but that thought was quickly pushed off. Arthur cried, but he felt as if there was another emotion he hadn't even been aware of himself, and it was fighting to be known and shown to the world. Every single thing seemed to have a dark side that had turned to him.

He cried because Alfred had been crying. He cried because he had no parents. He cried because he was crying. He cried for that inexplicable feeling when he was with Alfred…

He thought he heard the door open and close at some point and rain starting to pour down outside, but it was much later after that when he could stop crying for whatever reason he even was crying for at that point. He felt out of control, he had never reacted so strongly to anything.

His body worked hollowly and robotically as his feet took him to the kitchen to boil himself a cup of tea. He stared at the kettle as it boiled. He didn't take it off right away, but stared into the mesmerizing bubbles for minutes.

Finally, he poured the water to a blue teacup, and dropped in a bag of tea, unsure of what flavor it even was.

He sat down at the sofa again, and took a sip of his tea. Then, he was brought back from his thoughts into reality by the harsh pain of his tongue being burned by the flavorless tea.

Arthur asked himself what the hell he was doing.

He laid the tea down on the coffee table in front of the sofa and thought again, this time forcing his thoughts clear. He started asking questions from himself.

' _What just happened?'_ Was his first thought and the words "panic attack" popped up, along with "guilt, sadness, panic, shock, worry…" And from a small corner of his mind, the word "love".

Arthur didn't understand at all. He felt guilty that Alfred had been so sad, but yet it made no sense since he had no means of proving any of this was his fault. He was sad for everything, in panic and shock because he thought he had lost his sanity somewhere during what he thought had maybe been some sort of a panic attack. Worried sick for Alfred… and the last word was the most cryptic of all.

Did all of this mean he could be in love with Alfred?

Arthur's eyes opened wide just from the thought and he sipped a little bit from his teacup, trying to distract himself.

Arthur thought of the happiness he felt near Alfred, the weird thoughts he had had with him, the feeling of odd warmth when Alfred had grabbed his hand during the rafting...

But this was all too soon for Arthur. Nobody knows someone for around a week and is magically in love with them, right? Arthur didn't believe that love could strike so fast. It seemed as if all people in love had always known each other for ages and knew everything about each other. But what on earth was he feeling for Alfred then? It felt more like just a crush, and Arthur had had many before. His confusion didn't help his already messed up mind at all. It was too much, it felt like feelings from multiple days were making themselves known.

Arthur felt a slight buzz next to him distract him from the thoughts. He looked to his right to see through his teary eyes Alfred's smartphone buzzing and playing a short tune, signaling he had a new message.

It buzzed again.

And again.

And again.

Arthur didn't want to invade Alfred's privacy, but he did want the phone to shut up. He pressed the button at the top of the phone to light up the screen.

The clock at the lock screen showed 7:12, and Arthur had no idea where all the time had gone. The next thing he noticed was the cute dog as the lock screen background, and the notification:

 _452 new messages._

Arthur knew that this could be common in a group chat, but he felt suspicious. Was there something on the phone that caused this mess, or was a part of it?

Arthur muttered for forgiveness as he slid his finger across the screen to open the phone. Then, he saw the messages were from actual text messages, and that worried him. ' _What is going on?'_ He asked himself as he forgot to be guilty for tapping the "texts" notification.

The phone jumped into a list of messages, all from what seemed like maybe six or seven different numbers. But the messages were all horrible. So, so horrible. Arthur read a few.

 _: thats right go cry faggot_

 _: your sick and disgusting_

 _: rot in hell with AIDS_

 _: go kill yourself fgt_

Arthur's eyes widened in disbelief and such anger that his hands started to shake as he held the phone.

: you don't have a life faggot

: hope you die alone and nobody comes to ur funeral, like you even deserve 1

: jump off a cliff already

Arthur didn't realize he was crying till the tears hit the screen. But the phone kept buzzing with new messages.

: hope you finally did it fgt

: nobody will miss u

Arthur stood up driven by such anger and hatred that the sofa moved back. Arthur held the phone firmly, and was able to calm himself just enough to not throw it against the stone walls. Instead, he pressed the power button for long until the phone died, and threw it back on the sofa.

Arthur was fuming with anger and sadness. So this is what it had been all about! He felt so many things at once; a happy thought that Alfred wasn't sad because of him, but a far greater worry for him. Who are these "people"? How long had this been going on? Was Alfred gay as the messages said?

' _Where is Alfred?'_ Was the most worrying thought on his mind, and a shocking thought went through Arthur's head:

 _Maybe he's going to do like the messages told…_

Arthur jumped up from the though. Even if that wasn't the case, he had to do something!

He ran up the stairs in blind panic and searched his side of the bed for his phone. He had one clear objective; he was going to call the police that Alfred was potentially out there trying to commit suicide, and they needed to go search for him right n-

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Arthur had found his phone, but put it back on his bedside table slowly. He ran downstairs, almost missing his step to see who had come, and sure enough, it was Alfred.

He was soaking wet, wearing a white shirt now see-thru from being soaked with water, and a pair of blue shorts. His face was red and his hair was a huge mess dripping with water. His expression was of exhaustion and sadness.

Arthur didn't waste time, but out of sheer relief hugged the boy tightly. Alfred was cold from the rain, but it didn't bother Arthur. He was so relieved his eyes spared a few tears of joy, but when Alfred joined in on the soft crying, Arthur had no idea those were tears of joy, or tears of sadness.

"You need dry clothes…" Arthur finally said as he pulled away after what seemed like a minute, and the tears had stopped at that point.

"Yeah." The American replied quietly and kicked his shoes off his feet to some corner, and followed Arthur upstairs to the bedroom. Once there, Arthur told Alfred to change and headed back to the kitchen to make them some hot chocolate and tea. He was happy Alfred was back, but was still worried. Where had he been?

Alfred returned back downstairs conveniently as the drinks were ready and sat down opposite to Arthur, now wearing baggy gray trousers and a warm red hoodie. Arthur then realized he was still in his pyjamas, but was too distracted to care.

Neither wanted to speak first, and they drank their drinks in complete silence, if the sound of raindrops drumming the roof wasn't counted.

"I saw the messages." Arthur finally admitted, and didn't dare to look at the American's eyes. He felt guilt for seeing them and invading Alfred's privacy.

"Oh." The American said, sounding surprised, but not angry. Encouraged, Arthur looked up from his tea to meet the boy's eyes.

"I'm so, so sorry for invading your privacy… But I'm really worried for you now." Arthur said and dropped his gaze to the teacup again. However Arthur's words were of honesty.

"Don't worry about me. It's…fine." Alfred said and Arthur lifted his head to look at the boy, who had turned his head to the side, avoiding eye contact.

"Don't lie to me. Who are those people? Why are they doing this to you?" Arthur said and held a firm composure. He wanted _answers_. Alfred turned his head to Arthur and said with a defeated, sad voice;

"I never told you why I left the U.S…" He started to explain. Alfred took a shaky breath and continued.

"I used to be really popular in Washington. I had lots of friends to make up for the fact my parents were working long hours far from home, and I only saw them on Sundays."

"A-ha." Arthur said slowly, telling he was listening.

"Everything was okay, but then people found out…" Alfred said and looked down to his mug of hot chocolate.

"What did they find out?" Arthur said, but already suspecting a certain answer.

"That I am… I mean I like… that I-"

"That you are gay?" Arthur asked interrupting Alfred, and earning a nod.

"You probably got that part from the messages." Alfred speculated, and while some people would have been shaken to find out someone they know were actually gay, Arthur had experienced enough coming-outs to basically not care anymore. There was a certain other thought, a thought of opportunity and hope this revealed to Arthur… but he wasn't sure why he was slightly happy and hopeful for finding out.

"I'm gay too if I never mentioned that." Arthur said with a stable and almost bored tone, like the words meant nothing. Alfred's head jumped from the hot chocolate back to him, and his eyes were wide and lips slightly parted. Arthur suddenly felt the urge to laugh at the expression, but felt it was inappropriate and continued:

"I understand. So people turned against you when they found out?" Alfred nodded.

"Hold on. You are gay?" Alfred said with disbelief and Arthur couldn't stop the grin when he replied:

"Extremely."

"Oh… I just… haven't met that many other gay people." Alfred explained his shocked look, and Arthur did believe him, but had a gut feeling he was hiding also something else behind those blue eyes.

Alfred took the silence as a sign to continue.

"Well yes… people turned on me. All of my friends either distanced themselves from me or turned to bully me. I never knew they all were so homophobic..." Alfred took a few more shaky breaths.

"And the worst of all were my parents… they didn't try to support me, they just got more work, ignored the problem, left m-me to my o-own." Alfred said with a shaky voice and Arthur saw tears in the corners of his eyes. Arthur felt so sorry for the boy, how could parents do that?

"Your parents sound like assholes." Arthur said with a sad voice. Alfred tried to calm down, and successfully managed the words:

"Those bastards."

Alfred was crying full-fledged after his attempt of calming down and Arthur felt like crying as well. Arthur knew he had to do something, so he slid his hand across the table to gently squeeze the boy's hand reassuringly.

After a few minutes the crying had transformed into just shaky breathing, but Arthur still held his hand in place.

"After… all of that bullshit… I left to Liverpool to study. I left behind everything, I wanted a new life…" Alfred said, squeezing Arthur's hand tighter, unashamed to seek comfort.

"But you are always so… happy…" Arthur said, having a difficult time to believe the boy.

"Well I try to be myself, after all I am a happy person. But I also still take strong antidepressants…" Alfred admitted.

"And when those people somehow found out my new number and have tried to bully me again… I pretended."

"For what? You don't have to pretend you are happy when you are not… not to me, at least." Arthur squeezed his hand tighter to signal him just how much he cared.

"Thanks…" Alfred said with a shaky voice.

"But for how long has this been going on?" Arthur asked concerned.

"I got some cruel messages the night before we went rafting, and blocked the numbers. However they just kept coming after I got my phone back from the locker, and that was another reason I was so… weird… that day." Alfred answered.

A short silence occurred as Arthur sipped his already quite cold tea.

"Alfred… thank you for telling me. I really care for you, and I don't want you to have to hide your pain." Arthur said honesty in his voice and met the surprised blue eyes of the American.

"You are the first person here… to have said that…" Alfred said and looked like he could cry again.

"I-I... care for you too…" He finally muttered and caused a smile to emerge on Arthur's face. He thought it all felt so _right_ , and finding out that he was really someone special to Alfred made his heart flutter. He reluctantly let go of Alfred's hand and saw a small smile on the other's face as well.

"Let's go throw that phone to the sea, I need to get a new one anyway." Alfred finally stated and Arthur was happy to oblige. And while it couldn't fix everything, Arthur felt huge relief when the phone was thrown as far off to the rainy sea by Alfred later that day.

They didn't turn their backs to each other that night.

* * *

 **And that's it for that chapter. I hope you liked it, it was a bit of a difficult one to write since it's suddenly so serious and angsty.**

 **Feedback is appreciated, and I hope the grammar and writing is okay.**

 **Until next time!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Howdy!**

 **This is the part where everyone tells a bunch of excuses why they didn't update sooner or stuff, but I can admit that I've just been lazy, and out of ideas.**

 **Well, here it is, for all of my dear readers!**

* * *

 **Bingo! Chapter 6, by A True Shipper**

* * *

Arthur woke up that morning later than usual, since his regular alarm clock, blinding sunlight, was blocked by clouds that morning. He yawned as he sat up, but he was surprised to find Alfred still asleep on his left. Arthur didn't realize how long he stared at the sleeping figure lost in his thoughts. Oh how he would like to wake up next to him every day…

Arthur jolted as Alfred suddenly coughed. Arthur stared as he saw the American open his eyes heavily, but then cough again.

"Good morning, looks like you aren't much of an early bird today." Arthur greeted. Alfred looked at him, and muttered with a hoarse voice;

"Morning. I feel a bit under the weather today…" Arthur then saw the slight tint of red in Alfred's face and figured he probably had a fever.

"Oh… can I help you somehow or get you something?" Arthur asked like the polite brit he was.

"Well, some breakfast would be great. And maybe something hot to drink, my throat is a bit sore." Alfred replied weakly and Arthur nodded.

* * *

After changing to proper clothes and using the bathroom, Arthur found himself in the kitchen, staring at the refrigerator in defeat. He had forgot his major weakness;

He couldn't cook.

Arthur thought of all the delicious breakfasts Alfred had made before, before comparing them to the last breakfast he cooked; a burned toast with a weird mess of what had seemed like scrambled eggs. Arthur looked around the kitchen for anything so easy to make even he couldn't fuck up; cereal, yoghurt, _anything._

Luckily, he found some strawberry yoghurt from the fridge, and decided to serve it with some bananas to make the meal look slightly less pathetic. He boiled some water and made tea for both of them, even though he knew Alfred didn't like it too much. He stared at the big white plate with a sad bowl of yoghurt with a cup of tea next to it along with a banana, but decided it would have to do and took it back to Alfred with slight shame.

"There you go. It's not amazing, but you know how well I can cook." Arthur said as he gave the plate slowly to Alfred, still in the bed.

"Thanks." Alfred replied with a weak smile and started to eat.

Arthur headed back downstairs to get something for himself too, and settled with some simple toast with jam, along with his premade cup of tea. He felt lonely as he ate alone downstairs, and silently hoped Alfred would get better soon.

The villa felt dead without the energy Alfred radiated, and since he could always bring a smile to Arthur's face by _just being there_ , Arthur found it difficult to not go disturb Alfred. He decided to try and finish _"Roses and Pencils"_ , even though the book was quite bad in his opinion.

Arthur sat down on the couch and started reading. The main character, Ludwig, was just about to confess his feelings to Feliciano. Arthur thought it was very cliché, childhood friends to lovers, and then a final, grand confession at an airport. Arthur read on and couldn't help but roll his eyes as the story proceeded in a way he had seen so many times before in books and film; a few romantic words, and then a meaningful kiss described by at least a page full of adjectives and romantic words.

But the book wasn't quite done yet.

Arthur knew what was coming when the two decided to return back to Ludwig's flat. His face tinted slightly red as the two started kissing and touching and Arthur couldn't help but think this felt a bit rushed. _"They confessed their feelings like, an hour ago…"_ Arthur sighed in his thoughts as his eyes followed the text closely.

" _Ludwig, please, don't tease me like this…" Feliciano moaned and Ludwig moved his hands lower. His strong hands then found the thing he had fantasized for ages, and he grasped the slightly pulsating member firmly, earning an accepting grunt from Feliciano. Ludwig started moving his hand slowly, and started unzipping his own pants with his free hand hastily…_

Arthur's face burned red and his own member certainly approved what he was reading right then. Arthur shifted his position so his bulge wasn't so obvious from his jeans, and felt bothered. But he was a bit envious of Feliciano, Arthur wanted stuff like that more than first appeared from the outside. He was ashamed to admit to even himself how much he would enjoy the action depicted in the book, especially with a very certain American…

Arthur mentally slapped himself in the face when he thought of it. He was such a pervert; Alfred had just told him very personal information last night, shown how broken and vulnerable he was, told Arthur he was gay, put so much trust into him…

But there Arthur was, imagining Ludwig as Alfred and himself as Feliciano. He felt terrible, and suddenly felt shame he had fallen for the boy. He felt shame for "using" him in his head in such dirty ways while the boy was clearly struggling and reaching out to him. Arthur almost wished he had never fell for the boy; this was way worse than a normal crush. He was stuck in a villa with him, and had to interact and talk with Alfred every day, many times a day. And doing all this without showing how Arthur really felt. He wanted to protect Alfred from his own thoughts, no matter how ridiculous it sounded. _"He deserves someone better, someone less perverse..."_ He thought sadly.

After the sex scene, the book didn't last much longer. Arthur slapped the book closed with one hand, as he always did when he finished a book. He threw it onto the glass coffee table lazily, before deciding to go check out how Alfred was doing.

When Arthur reached the top of the stairs, he saw Alfred reading a magazine focused.

"Hi. Everything okay?" Arthur asked as he walked over to Alfred. The boy sighed and put down his magazine.

"Better." He replied shortly.

"Well that's good. Do you need any medicine or stuff?"

"I had some basic stuff with me, so I don't need any additional meds. But it's a bit lonely here with nobody to talk to. My throat feels a bit better, so maybe we could talk or something." Alfred said.

"Sure we can." Arthur said as he sat down on the other side of the soft bed. Alfred coughed and shifted so he faced Arthur.

"So uhm… what should we talk about?" Arthur started.

"I dunno…"

The two sat in awkward silence for a while as they both tried to think of a subject.

"English weather has hit once again…" Arthur sighed and looked out of the window. Weather wasn't a very original topic in his opinion, but anything to break the silence would do.

"Yeah… I think I got this cold or whatever when I went running off yesterday… Got soaked by rain." Alfred replied. Arthur was hit by a lot of feelings by the word _"yesterday"_ , but tried to push all of yesterday's depressing thoughts out of his head.

"Where were you, anyway? I was worried…" Arthur asked and felt as the mood of the room changed instantly to a more serious one. _'Way to go Arthur, now you've really cheered Alfred up, haven't you?'_ He thought.

"Well… I just felt like I needed to… get away from it all for a bit. I took a little walk along the shore, but then it started raining. I didn't have very warm clothes or stuff, so no wonder I'm sick today…" Alfred sighed and coughed softly.

"And I'm sorry I worried you. I hope you didn't get any ideas from those… messages." He continued after coughing and Arthur slapped himself in the face mentally for bringing bad memories up for Alfred.

"It's okay, don't be sorry." Arthur continued while furiously thinking how to cheer up the talk.

"Speaking of that, you now need a new phone. We should go together once you feel better, I could do some shopping too." Arthur continued and felt successful in cheering up the talk when Alfred smiled.

"That sounds great." He replied with a hoarse, but happy voice.

"Your voice sounds a bit... off. Maybe we shouldn't be straining it too much…" Arthur said and tried to stand up. However, his left hand was grabbed by Alfred's warm right hand. Arthur sat back down and turned to look at the boy again.

"Don't go! I hate being alone here…" Alfred gasped and Arthur thought his face looked too red to be caused by only the fever.

"Well I don't think talking is still a good idea. I could still read here or something, to keep you company." Arthur replied, still dazzled by the fact that Alfred didn't want him to leave. His more optimistic and romantic side told him it had to mean something bigger, but his realistic and cold side was crushing his hopes.

"Okay. I have a few magazines with me here, but I've read like all of 'em. Do you have anything interesting to read?" Alfred asked and Arthur couldn't say no to those blue eyes.

"I'll see what I can find." He replied shortly and left the room to look for some of his books scattered around the villa.

He returned a bit later, holding three books; _"The Rain Never Stops"_ , a depressing drama, _"Pirates of the English Channel"_ , a funny little adventure story which Arthur quite liked, and of course, _"Roses and Pencils"_.

"Pick anything you like." Arthur said as he threw the books on the bed. Alfred thanked him and Arthur picked up Alfred's pile of magazines. He started going through them, searching for anything interesting. There were a few car and tech magazines, but Arthur was surprised when he found a few home decoration magazines along with DIY crafting ones.

"You like furnishing?" Arthur asked surprised.

"Well, I actually really like designing homes and stuff." The boy replied, studying the back text of _"Roses and Pencils"_ with interest.

"I was just a bit surprised. You don't exactly seem like a person that would like that sort of stuff." Arthur explained as he sat down next to Alfred with one of those very design books.

A moment of silence occurred as the two started reading.

"Everyone always told me it was a… girly thing to like." Alfred said as he flipped a page.

"I don't believe there are girly thing and manly things to like. I feel like everyone should just be… free to do what they like." Arthur replied and kept reading an article about using colorful tape as wallpaper.

"You… you are one of those few people I know who think like that. I appreciate that kind of… open-mindedness." Alfred said with a certain honesty in his voice. Arthur turned to look at the boy surprised, but since they were laying so close together, Alfred's face was very close to his own. Alfred's blue eyes were crystal clear even through his glasses, and a part of Arthur really wanted to close the gap between them, to see those eyes up close… But the rational side of him was holding him back.

"Uhh… Thanks?" Arthur replied, blushing awkwardly as he turned his head so he faced the ceiling and the magazine again. He tried to read more about the article about tape wallpaper, to distract himself from his racing thoughts. _'Get a grip Arthur!'_ He thought in his mind.

A silence descended again, but Arthur's mind was everywhere but focused on the magazine. It was wondering why Alfred had chosen to start reading _"Roses and Pencils"_ out of all the books, and what the boy would think of the highly 18+ scene at the end. _'And what will Alfred think of me, carrying such books with me!'_ his mind raced. But it was too late; Alfred already looked focused on the book, there was no way Arthur could snatch it back anymore.

Arthur decided he couldn't even pretend he was focused on reading anymore, and spoke up.

"I'm hungry… and it's almost lunchtime anyway. Maybe we should order pizza?" Arthur asked.

"Well I'm not that hungry, so order what you like." Alfred said with a hoarse voice and Arthur felt bad for him.

"I'll get something like tuna-blue cheese-pineapple, if that's fine." Arthur said.

"Ewww…. blue cheese? In pizza? I mean I can eat almost anything, but…" Alfred said with an obviously exaggerated disgust in his tone and Arthur couldn't help but chuckle.

"I thought you weren't hungry." Arthur said as he stood up with a small smile, throwing the magazine on floor.

"That doesn't mean I couldn't take at least a few slices. And I'd rather eat them from edible pizza." Alfred laughed a little, and that laugh made Arthur's smile widen to a big grin.

"It's not as bad as it sounds. I'll go call." Arthur told Alfred and did just that.

The pizza arrived about a half an hour later, and Arthur brought it upstairs in victory. He placed the pizza box in front of Alfred and opened it.

"It looks… interesting." Alfred said with a slight frown.

"Try it. It's not made by that amazing place near the University of Liverpool, but it should be good." Arthur said and took a slice. Alfred sighed and took one as well. A moment of silence occurred as both took a bite. Arthur analyzed Alfred's expression closely, trying to figure if the boy liked it.

"Well?" Arthur asked Alfred with genuine interest.

"It's not as horrible as I thought actually." Alfred said an approving tone, still chewing.

"Good that you like it. This one has too much cheese, but the place I mentioned does it just right." Arthur replied, eagerly taking a bite from his favorite pizza.

"Well maybe once we get back to Liverpool, we should go there?" Alfred suggested, and took a bite. Arthur's thoughts froze for a second. He had never thought what would happen once they got back to Liverpool, time spent in the villa with Alfred was all he had thought about for the last few days.

"Sure. Talking about Liverpool, you were going to start studies in the university there, right?" Arthur asked. Alfred swallowed his bite and replied;

"Yep. I'm just trying to find someplace to stay during my studying, seems like the student housing provided by the university is mostly occupied already…"

Arthur knew it to be true. He almost had had to live with Bethany, but thankfully there had still been room left at a student village. Then, it hit him.

"Hey! I study there too, and I live in a little house at a student village. But the girl I used to share it, Madhur, moved back to India once the vacations started. So, maybe you could live with me?" Arthur suggested. It felt rushed, suggesting this to a person he had known for barely a week now, but since Alfred already seemed so trustworthy and friendly, it was worth suggesting. Alfred smiled brightly at his suggestion.

"Sounds so cool! I'll be sure to ask the people there if that'd be all right." Alfred said happily, and Arthur smiled in response. Arthur's smile never faded as Alfred blabbered about living together and being roommates for the rest of the meal.

* * *

By the end of the day Alfred said he was feeling a bit better, but that didn't stop Arthur from being a bit worried about him.

"Are you sure you don't need anything?" Arthur asked Alfred as he cleaned up the dishes from their dinner, which had been some sad, oven-baked fish sticks and dry french-fries.

"I'm fine, mom." Alfred sighed, and rolled his eyes as he emphasized the word "mom".

"Whatever." Arthur said, pretending not to care as he walked down the stairs to bring the dishes to the kitchen. He then saw the massive pile of other dishes waiting to be cleaned, and he sighed as he started moving the pile of dishes into the dishwasher.

When he returned, he saw Alfred's eyes still glued to the book.

"You seem to like that book, don't you?" Arthur asked as he walked over to him to see how far into the book he was.

"Well I mean… uh…" Alfred stuttered. Arthur frowned in response, but then saw the pages Alfred was reading.

' _The sex scene…'_ He realized.

The boy was slightly blushing, and Arthur was well aware why. Before Arthur could stop his curiosity, he glanced quickly at Alfred's crotch with his left eye for a "natural reaction". He was, however, underneath a blanket and nothing was visible. Arthur then realized just what he had done, and silently cursed under his breath for being such a pervert. He didn't understand how he had gone from "wont-even-admit-my-feelings-to-myself" to "total-pervert/romantic" in less than 24 hours, but whatever the case, it was getting ridiculous.

"It's mediocre." Alfred managed to blurt. Arthur was slightly surprised how quickly Alfred had read most of the book, but then again it wasn't a very long book. Arthur really wanted to say _'You seem to be enjoying it too much for it to be just mediocre'_ , but instead muttered awkwardly;

"Okay." Arthur sat down next to Alfred, laying his back against the mountain of pillows they had made as a back rest for themselves. There was still plenty of time before Arthur usually went to sleep (around midnight that was) and he wasn't sure how to spend that time. Alfred had also lowered his book, probably having read it through completely. The two just looked at each other in a weird "what now?"-way and the awkwardness of the silence could be felt. Arthur stared at the boy's face, lost in his thoughts. Arthur thought the soft blush on his cheeks was cute, and so was his messy, ruffled hair.

"So uh… you feel well enough to do something before night falls?" Arthur finally spoke up and was relieved he had managed to break the tension of the silence.

"Like what?" Alfred asked. Arthur pondered for a bit, before remembering something.

"I read a bit of the booklet about the villa yesterday, and turns out there actually is a TV here." Arthur brought up while wondering how he could possibly have forgotten it.

"Oh, cool. But where the heck is it?"

Arthur felt like a secret agent as he pulled out a small, black remote from his bedside table's cabinet.

"Watch, this is pretty cool." Arthur smirked and pressed the red button on the remote.

First, nothing happened. Arthur was hit by a slight sense of worry that maybe it wouldn't work, but when he heard the mechanic sound of extending curtains, he knew he had succeeded.

The weak light still coming from outside was blocked by a thick, black curtain rolling from above the window, and Arthur thought the look on Alfred's face was priceless.

Then, when it was almost fully dark, a silver screen used in movie theaters rolled down so it covered a good part of the wall opposite from the bed. Then, a projection sprung the screen to life. A purple menu, showing a selection of movies and TV-shows or the option of watching TV.

Arthur looked at Alfred with a smirk, and the boy's jaw had actually dropped a little. He was now sitting there, blue eyes wide, similar to the ones little kids have at candy stores.

"Why didn't you tell of this earlier? This is like, super mega cool!" Alfred chirped and Arthur smiled, wishing he could always bring a smile like that to his face.

"I know, having a home theater like this is amazing. But what should we watch?" Arthur asked the American.

"There is a suggest-a-movie option there! Try it." Alfred replied and Arthur did.

The screen was instantly flashed with three covers of movies, and a big white text saying;

" _Most Popular"_

Arthur hadn't even heard of any of them, and Alfred said the same. Arthur didn't understand how they could be the _"Most Popular"_ without either even hearing of any of them, but after watching some trailers they had a clue what they were being offered.

"I don't want to watch the horror flick, I don't like that stuff." Arthur said.

"Good, me neither. So either that westerner or the dramatic romance?" Alfred asked and Arthur nodded.

"The westerner had pretty bad acting, in the trailer at least." Alfred continued.

"So that leaves _"Au Revoir"_ , right?"

"I guess. Did we have any popcorn?" Alfred replied.

"I don't think so…" Arthur sighed. "But then again we can actually sleep here afterwards, without all the crumbs from popcorn."

"True. Let's get the film rolling then, shall we?" Alfred said as he shifted to a more comfy position.

"Let's." Arthur smiled.

The film wasn't about one certain couple, but about many who were forced into the same situation. Three couples, all finding out the other had an incurable disease. Every couple acted differently; one trying every single experimental cure and treatment, one trying to fill out their "bucket-list" in the time they had, and the one which broke Arthur's heart;

Mason and Lily, who had kids and tried their very best to keep life normal for them and each other till the bitter end.

Arthur wasn't one to cry at the movies, but the one seated on his left seemed to be. Alfred had to wipe his tears a few times during the movie, such as when the husband of the woman who tried to cure herself by all methods loses his wife, or when the old "bucket list" couple reveals their final thing on their bucket list to be "die together", and they both hurl themselves off the golden gate bridge in each other's embrace.

But Arthur had to basically hug Alfred when the last scene came.

Lily was in the hospital, exhausted and tired from using all her strength and willpower to fight the illness. Mason had been crying beside her, along with the two oldest children. But the youngest had held Lily's hand and calmly said;

"Goodnight mommy."

Arthur had to talk about that movie for at least an hour to get over his and Alfred's shock and sadness.

"Let's watch something less depressing next time, all right? Arthur said as they were getting ready for bed.

"Yeah… sad movies bring up bad memories, even if the movie's plot isn't related to them." Alfred sighed as he crawled under his blanket. Arthur couldn't help but feel bad for the boy when he did the same.

"I'm sorry to hear that…"

Silence.

"Well, goodnight Alfred." Arthur whispered.

"Hey, you sound like the little girl at the end of the movie! I'm traumatized enough already." Alfred whispered and even though it was dark, Arthur still smiled at Alfred's cute pout.

"Sweet dreams then." Arthur smiled.

"Sweet dreams." Alfred whispered, and Arthur watched him close his eyes, before doing that himself.

* * *

 **And there we go. Longest chapter yet, I hope you've enjoyed it. Also all the movies/books mentioned don't actually exist, just products of my imagination ;)**

 **Errors and stuff are very possible, but I think there aren't at least too many in here.**

 **Feedback and reviews are a major motivator in writing, so tell me what ya think!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello again!**

 **I live, and so does the story. I actually have an excuse; summer vacation is coming up soon and it's a mad rush to get stuff done. But now, as the vacation starts, I will hopefully have more time and creativity to put into this work :D**

 **I hope ya like it, and big thanks to the people who have reviewed or followed the story and stuff.**

* * *

 **Bingo! Ch. 7, by A True Shipper**

* * *

Saturday rolled past slowly, since Alfred was still sick. Arthur spent most of the day binge-watching TV-shows with the American, while trying to hide his hopeless crush with the best of his ability. But the way he felt every time the boy smiled or he saw those blue eyes, every time they talked or laughed together... It was becoming increasingly difficult to hold it all back, and because of this he was slightly grouchy as Alfred woke him up on Sunday morning.

"Dude, wake up!" A familiar voice called, and Arthur opened his eyes to shoot a death glare towards the American.

"It's so early, why the bloody hell are you in such a rush?" Arthur replied sharply.

"I need a new phone, remember? There's an opening ceremony for a shopping mall nearby, and we are so going there!" Alfred replied, totally ignoring the annoyed waves that Arthur emitted.

"Ugh… do we have to go this early? Surely it'll be open for like, the whole day?" Arthur continued, rubbing his eyes.

"They have really big discounts for the first people there! It'll probably take some time to tour that place anyway, so better earlier than later." Alfred reasoned. Arthur sighed in defeat; he could have argued more with anyone else, but Alfred was the one exception. He laid on the incredibly comfy bed for a few more breaths, his body not wanting to go anywhere.

"Okay, okay." Arthur finally agreed, reluctantly rising up from the bed.

* * *

About a half an hour later Alfred had managed to drag Arthur to the front door, and the Brit was amazed that he was even standing at that moment. The clock was 6:30, which was basically night in Arthur's mind.

"Do you always wake up this early?" Arthur sighed.

"A bit later, but you don't seem too happy to be here at this hour." Alfred said and smiled. Arthur knew it was very true.

The taxi arrived soon enough, and they were taken to the shopping mall Alfred had been so enthusiastic about.

"Phew, we actually made it here in time." Alfred sighed, relieved, as the two climbed out of their taxi. Arthur looked around as Alfred paid the driver.

They were standing in front of a large, glass box of a building which had to have at least five floors. The metal frames that held the weird design in place were black, and the mall radiated a modernity challenging even their villa. The parking lot was full of cars, and Arthur could see a long line of people next to the front entrance.

"This place really is massive." Arthur stated, still wondering why on earth anyone even needed a mall so big.

"Impressive, eh? The doors are gonna open up any minute, so let's get going dude!" Alfred said, and started walking quite quickly towards the entrance, Arthur right behind him.

Once they got up close, the structure's tallness truly showed. There were office buildings and stores near the mall, but none matched its height. Arthur thought it looked quite out-of-place. Arthur and Alfred made it right next to the line before they heard something.

" _Attention shoppers. The Cube is now opening its doors. Welcome to shopping heaven!"_ A lady's voice was heard from speakers above the main entrance, and the spinning doors sprung to life. They were instantly swarmed with shoppers desperate to get the most exclusive stuff.

"Come on, I want my phone while they are still in stock!" Alfred grabbed Arthur's hand and rushed to the door. Arthur didn't understand how Alfred managed to get through all the masses of people so effortlessly, and he was holding on for dear life since there was no way he was going to find Alfred again in such a massive place. Arthur was dragged through endless corridors and escalators, until Alfred suddenly stopped.

"Here we are! And we're one of the first here." Alfred panted, and Arthur had to take a few breaths to make his head stop spinning from the trip to the shop. He looked around. It dawned to him that his hands were still touching Alfred's from being dragged through the crowds, and he hastily let go as he quickly walked to another direction than Alfred, not even daring to make eye contact.

The interior of the mall was constructed so there was a big, rectangular open space in the middle with all the escalators and stairs, along with many benches and the most important shops. The drop visible from the electronics shop window was frightening, and Arthur couldn't stare out of it for long. Alfred was talking to the store employee loudly, and since he didn't seem like he needed help, Arthur decided to look around the store.

The shop was actually quite small, and only contained compact electronics like phones and speakers. Arthur tested a few pairs of headphones to pass time, but the only ones with decent sound quality were way off his budget.

"Looking for headphones?" Alfred asked behind his back and Arthur jolted. Alfred laughed at the brit for it, and Arthur blushed ever-so-slightly in embarrassment.

"Don't creep up on me like that! Did you find what you were looking for?" Arthur asked back, ignoring Alfred's original question.

"Yep, here it is!" Alfred replied, proudly lifting up a small orange bag with the logo of the electronics shop.

"Good that you got one, there seem to be a lot of people here." Arthur said and pointed through the window to the masses moving at the ground floor and the escalators.

"Yep, and for a reason. There's supposed to be all kinds of activities and stuff here today, I even grabbed a brochure about that somewhere during our trip upstairs." Alfred replied and offered a small piece of paper to Arthur, who still wondered how on earth the boy had managed to get one in the overcrowded mall. Upon inspection of the brochure, Arthur was surprised how many events were going to happen that day.

"Wow, they really are trying to draw in as many customers as possible. I don't know about the others, but the fortuneteller sounds interesting enough." Arthur said, pointing at the text referring to it on the paper, showing it to Alfred.

"Sounds really cool, the other places will probably be full of people anyway. But that's gonna start at like, 14:00. So I guess we tour around and stuff?" Alfred suggested.

"Yeah, this place is massive so we probably won't run out of shops to visit. I guess we should head… that way?" Arthur pointed at a random corridor of the bunch visible.

"Arthur, that corridor leads to the emergency exits." Alfred laughed and Arthur felt horribly stupid.

"I suggest we start touring this way!" Alfred started walking somewhere and Arthur walked along, clueless where it would even lead.

* * *

The two toured a few other tech shops and a flower boutique, but there wasn't anything too amazing there.

Arthur didn't want to admit it to Alfred, but he actually wasn't one to hang around malls all day, buying random crap from every store. But even it suddenly felt okay; talking about how useless some products were, testing out stuff, eating free samples and idly chatting about almost everything. Arthur also kind of liked when Alfred would grab his hand to lead him somewhere, and he seemed to do it often too. A wild theory even appeared in Arthur's head that Alfred could be unconsciously trying to hold hands with him, but the thought was so ridiculous it surpassed even the most outrageous of conspiracy theories he had heard.

"Let's see what's behind this corner!" Alfred exclaimed overexcitedly for at least the tenth time, and Arthur's hand was grabbed by him without resistance as they walked straight into a quiet branch of the megamall.

Arthur found himself standing in front of a small boutique, " _Wonderland"_. Arthur looked at the shop for a bit, unsure what it sold since it was quite concealed from the outside.

"Ah, customers! Don't be shy, step on in!" A voice was heard and before Arthur could answer, a man stepped out of the door and appeared in front of them. He had wavy blonde hair, and was dressed in a long, blue coat with a red rose on the front pocket of it.

"Uh… hi?" Alfred started, dazzled.

"Bonjour, I'm Francis! Welcome to _Wonderland_ , the birthplace of fantasies." He said overdramatically and gestured for the two to walk into the boutique. Arthur and Alfred looked at each other skeptically, but Arthur decided it wouldn't be too polite to turn back now.

He walked in to the small shop with Alfred to look around puzzled. The shelves were full of all kinds of costumes, but when Arthur looked to his left he finally realized what the shop sold.

It was way too clear when the shelves were full of leather straps, clothes, uniforms and etcetera.

"Uh, I'm sorry but we might have wondered into the wrong shop…" Arthur said with a fake laugh, attempting to turn around and basically run away. But Francis was standing there, chuckling.

"Leaving so soon? Surely your boyfriend and you came here for something special?"

"We aren't dating!" Arthur snapped back, but secretly wishing it wasn't true. Francis wasn't buying it.

"So you are saying you walk hand-in-hand to this kind of shop and _aren't_ dating?" Francis smirked. Arthur then noticed that he hadn't actually let go of Alfred's hand at any point, and blushed madly as he pulled his hand away at the same time as Alfred. The embarrassment was killing him. Arthur didn't have the time to say anything before the shopkeeper spoke again.

"Look, it's probably complicated between you too. But since you are one of the first here, at least have a look. And if you do find something, you can have it discounted since you are here so early." Francis stated, and walked to the cashier's desk with a winning smile.

Arthur looked at Alfred with a defeated "what now?" expression to find him staring back with a similar face. Arthur was weighing his options; he could either run the hell away from this shop like he wanted to, or politely at least have a look at what they offered. But when Alfred awkwardly started looking around, Arthur had to follow his example.

Arthur saw many extremely kinky costumes, and his cheeks tinted red. But they weren't anything compared to the shameless shelf full of sex toys at the back of the shop. Arthur spotted Alfred at the other end of the shop, his cheeks at least as red. _'That's it Arthur, you are going to get out of here, right now!'_ He told himself, and turned around. But right there where his eyes landed, was an object of interest.

There was a mannequin wearing a French maid's costume, and the kinkier side of Arthur approved. He hastily turned to look at something else, fearful if the others could somehow sense his attraction at that certain piece of clothing.

"The costume is about a hundred bucks, but that price is negotiable." Francis said next to Arthur and he turned to look at the man shocked. His mind raced; had it been so obvious? Francis smirked, since Arthur's reaction totally gave it away. Arthur knew he needed to get the hell away from that perverted shop, before things got out of hand.

"Uh…I think we should get going. We are a bit in a hurry and all, right Alfred?" Arthur said, trying desperately to escape. He shot a pleading look to Alfred, and luckily the other didn't seem too keen on staying either.

"Yeah. We should get back to… home soon!" Alfred said and Arthur hadn't felt so relieved in his life. Arthur didn't wait any longer and all but ran out of the front door without looking back, Alfred soon following.

"We will not speak of that, ever." Arthur spoke once they had walked probably further from the shop than necessary. If word got out that he had visited a shop like that, and even worse with another person, he couldn't ever show his face to anyone he knew ever again.

"Agreed." Alfred replied unusually stern. Arthur loved the bothered blush he was wearing, it was extremely visible from his cheeks and beyond cute. But he blocked his feelings and tried to think of something else.

"Should we go and like, have a coffee or something?" Arthur suggested, trying to shift the subject to something, _anything_ else than what just had happened as they started walking again.

"Sure."

* * *

A few hours passed by, but the endless shopping and touring wasn't as entertaining as Arthur had thought. Alfred also seemed bored, and Arthur was unsure if the fortuneteller was really worth the wait.

"How much is the clock?" Alfred suddenly asked as they were walking along the narrow corridors of the mall.

"About 12." Arthur said, disappointed by what his watch told him. "This is getting boring, how on earth is anyone supposed to visit all of these shops?" He continued, and Alfred nodded in agreement.

"I think we should either go back home- I mean the villa, or think of something else to do. But I was kind of hoping to see that cool fortuneteller…" He said as the two sat down on a wooden bench to think.

"Me too. This place is absolutely massive, are there any bowling alleys or anything like that?" Arthur asked and Alfred pulled the brochure from his pocket. They studied the little paper closely, and because it was so small they slowly drifted closer to each other and the paper to understand what it said. Arthur wanted to drift closer to Alfred, but stopped himself physically and mentally before he did so.

"Man, all the cool ones are totally full." Alfred finally stated, finding nothing they could do inside the mall. Arthur nodded.

"Maybe there's something to do outside the mall? I mean we are pretty close to the heart of Plymouth, so surely there are other attractions?" Arthur suggested. Alfred seemed to ponder it for a bit, until he suddenly folded the brochure into the pocket of his blue hoodie.

"It's a plan! C'mon, let's go." Alfred practically jumped from his seat, and Arthur wondered how this person could be the same depressed Alfred he had seen a few days ago.

* * *

They left the mall and walked along the sunny streets of Plymouth for a while. The city wasn't exactly Paris or New York, but it was big enough to house a few attractions. Notably, the two had a look at a few old statues and parks scattered around, as well as taking a walk to the seaside marketplace.

"The weather is amazing." Arthur stated, looking at the clear blue sky. Alfred just nodded in response. The other people at the marketplace had clearly thought so as well, and the place was full of shoppers and even a few tourists. The little shops and stands sold fish from the sea, fresh vegetables and fruit from farms not far away, and endless amounts of totally useless junk. There were also a few restaurants, mainly seafood and fast food places. The air around those places smelled of delicious, fried fish and Arthur noted how hungry he was after the two had toured around a bit.

"I suggest we eat here, I'm hungry. And after that, we should head back to the mall." Arthur spoke.

"Cool. Should we have like, fish and chips?" Alfred suggested, and Arthur was glad to agree, since he did like them.

They walked to a small stand which had a sign which read; _"Dave's Fish and Chips"_. The stand was operated by a guy who presumably was Dave, and the middle-aged man asked what they wanted. Since the place sold nothing else, both got fish and chips along with some lemonade. Arthur frowned when he was shown the price of the food, it was like robbery to charge 25 bucks for their food. But since he didn't feel like arguing, he just grouchily handed over the money.

The duo sat down on the dock to eat. Arthur and Alfred idly talked about how nice the weather was while munching on the salty chips. Arthur criticized the fish since he had had far better before, but Alfred liked it. Arthur was disturbed by every now and then by the occasional breezes of wind from the sea, they made him cold. But Alfred's hair waved perfectly in the wind, and this made it bearable. It seemed as if everything from shopping to even the wind was better with the American.

Afterwards, they made their way back to the mall just in time for the fortuneteller.

"Hurry up dude, I don't want to wait for ages in a line!" Alfred said as they speed-walked the corridors. Arthur wasn't sure how a simple fortuneteller had suddenly become so important, since all they told were usually just random guesses. But Arthur had always been fascinated by the supernatural, and with the addition of Alfred his future seemed more interesting than ever.

They arrived to a small tent, just like the ones set up in parks. It was of thick, dark purple fabric and there were only a handful of people in line for it.

"Finally, this is what we've been waiting for!" Alfred said excitedly, like a small child, as they got to the line. Arthur smiled at his childish reaction, and nodded.

The line moved on quick, and suddenly Arthur was the next one to go in. He felt a bit nervous, even though there really was no reason to be. Then, a faint voice saying "next", was heard from the tent. Arthur glanced at Alfred one last time like he was going to be boarding the Titanic, before slipping through the door.

The tent was surprisingly low, and the air was heavy. There were two low seats, one occupied with who appeared to be an old woman. It was hard to tell, because it was very dark and she was wearing a hood over her head.

"Come, sit down." She spoke and Arthur did. From his seated position he could see her face; two sharp green eyes and wrinkly skin.

"Welcome. I'm Isabella, and you already know what I am." She spoke in a mystic voice.

"Arthur Kirkland, nice to meet you."

Isabella eyed Arthur curiously, and he felt naked. Was there something she could see that he couldn't?

"You're nervous. Calm down, and give me your right hand." Isabella read Arthur like an open book, and Arthur had to follow her instructions. His hand was sandwiched between the others, and Arthur watched as Isabella closed her eyes. Arthur just sat there dumbfounded, unsure should he be doing something or not.

"I see a small cottage…" Her voice suddenly mumbled, puzzling Arthur.

"And confused and lost eyes." She continued. Arthur didn't want to break the mood, so he didn't ask anything.

"Rain. Endless rain, with one umbrella of glass." Isabella said, opening her eyes to meet Arthur's confused ones.

"Don't let the rain taint the book of the wanderer." She finished, and Arthur was more than confused.

"Go, I have nothing else to tell you." She spoke once more, and dumbfounded Arthur stepped through the doorway of the tent.

Outside, the bright LED-lights almost blinded him. He looked at Alfred, who was still grinning from excitement. Neither said anything before Alfred slipped into the tent.

Arthur had to lean against a wall to collect his thought. Rain, glass umbrellas and books? None of it made any sense, but at least he hadn't been told "Massive riches are coming your way!" or other fake crap like it.

He was deep in thought when Alfred came out of the tent. Arthur looked over to see the boy, his face slightly red and a sad expression. When Arthur walked closer to him, he saw a tear roll down Alfred's cheek.

"What is it? What did she say to you?" Arthur panicked, hating to see the other upset. Alfred didn't answer, instead he took in a shaky breath to say;

"Call the taxi."

Arthur tried to ask the other a few more times what was the matter, but he eventually gave up when the other didn't answer. They got a few funny looks from people as they walked through the mall to the parking lot, people were wondering what could make an adult cry like that. Arthur wanted to know as well, his prophecies totally forgotten.

They didn't talk on the way back. Alfred didn't cry, but he looked like he could start crying again any moment. Arthur thought the situation was unreal; a while ago Alfred was smiling and having fun, now he was a mess. Arthur felt useless as he couldn't help him.

Once they got back to the villa, Arthur had to try ask again.

"Alfred, what is it?" He tried one last, desperate time as they stepped through the front door, but the other just threw his shopping bags to the floor before marching upstairs. Arthur leaned against the wall shocked, trying to gather his thoughts again. It didn't really work; he was worried, and it consumed his other thoughts. Worry turned into sadness and even anger, since Alfred was refusing to tell him what wrong.

Arthur went outside to the sea to think, since he didn't want to go disturb the other. He was now upset too; sadness was contagious. He sat down on a big rock and looked at the sea. He thought and thought, it was all he could do. What could be wrong?

Arthur tried to blame Alfred's sadness on something. Alfred's bad memories, maybe the fortuneteller. Arthur even thought if he was somehow guilty. Frustrated, since he only had questions and no answers; he took a rock and threw it into the sea. He watched it splash the water everywhere, and he took another one into his hand.

He threw it.

And another one.

And another.

When he finally stopped throwing rocks harder and harder towards the water, he noticed the tears rolling down his cheeks. He wasn't even sure why he was crying; but it was something about Alfred.

Alfred.

It seemed he was all Arthur ever even thought about lately. His feelings, his values, his thoughts.

Arthur felt like he needed to get a grip again. Think about himself for a while. But when he thought of his feelings, most, if not all, were somehow linked to the boy. His desires, weaknesses, strengths; all tied in a spider's web of emotions and thoughts of him.

Arthur felt almost sick; what was this? He needed to untangle the mess of suppressed thoughts he had created, but he couldn't do it alone. And ironically, Alfred was the only one who could help.

Arthur's mind had only dug itself a deeper hole.

Defeated in realization that he needed to let feelings out, he suddenly didn't know how. He had just barricaded everything he had felt for Alfred, but now he had to open the gates. It was becoming too much; the worry for him, the anger at him, the sad feelings for him and the overwhelming love for him.

Arthur mindlessly went back to the villa, slamming the door behind him in an attempt to release some anger, even though he didn't know what that anger was even for. He was unsure what to do; but he decided to go check on Alfred.

Once he got to the top of the stairs, he saw a figure underneath a blanket. Arthur was certain it could be nobody else than the boy he thought of so much, and walked over.

Alfred was sleeping peacefully, his glasses still on, hair messy and the blanket around him slightly moist from tears. Arthur looked at him sadly; had the boy cried himself to sleep?

Arthur realized he could probably use some sleep as well, it seemed like a good escape from all his thoughts and feelings. He crawled next to Alfred, and looked at him for a while. What was so special about him?

Arthur was too tired to think or generally do anything anymore, so his brain didn't provide him answers. But it was probably this tiredness which finally weakened a lock in his mind, and Arthur suddenly really wanted to do something. He observed the American for just a little bit more, until he chose to let go.

He slowly, slowly nuzzled closer to the sleeping boy, and after hesitating one last time, he gently placed his lips on the American's forehead for a kiss. The act was very quick and Arthur soon got away, fearing what would happen. But as nothing happened and Alfred seemed asleep, Arthur could relax.

Sleep soon caught him into its comforting arms, and he fell into blissful unconsciousness.

* * *

Little did he know, that Alfred was wide awake.

* * *

 **Dun dun duu! To be continued, as you can see this chapter ended like, 16:35-ish? So expect chapter 8 to take place after this little nap time thing :P**

 **Bye for now, my dear readers :D**


	8. Chapter 8

**Yes, a new chapter so soon. I know, I'm awesome :P**

 **Less talking, more reading.**

* * *

 **Bingo! Ch. 8, by A True Shipper**

* * *

Arthur didn't want to open his eyes when he awoke. Reality was a painful mess, and he really didn't want to know what would await him behind his eyelids. His thoughts were a mess just as before falling asleep, and he also remembered something else he did.

He had lost control. Let the feelings take form. Been weak, when Alfred needed someone strong as a friend. He was broken and sad, and Arthur had just risked mixing all of that up by his own problems.

But despite all of that self-loathing, Arthur still felt the warmth of Alfred's forehead linger on his lips. And it was a warmth he had never felt before.

He laid there for a good while. Finally, he let his right eye to open just slightly, only to see nobody next to him. Encouraged by the fact Alfred wasn't there, he opened his eyes wide to look around.

There was indeed no Alfred in sight, nor to be heard from anywhere else. Just Arthur in the double bed, and it was even lonelier since he still could smell the very faint fragrance of the American. The rain drummed outside, and the rainclouds had blocked the sun so that the room was illuminated by just depressing gray light.

Arthur sat up first, and from there stood up. He distracted himself from his situation by stretching a bit. While rolling his head, he wondered where Alfred was. But last time he had needed time, he had gone for a walk. So Arthur didn't want to start worrying about where he was just then, Alfred was an adult who could take care of himself, after all.

Right?

Arthur walked to the stairs and listened for any signs of Alfred, not knowing if it was a good or a bad thing if he was there. But since Arthur heard nothing, he made his way downstairs. Alfred wasn't to be seen, as he had suspected. Arthur didn't really know what he was supposed to do. He hadn't asked Alfred's new number at any point, so he couldn't call where he was. And if he could call, what would he even say?

Arthur walked to the kitchen. He wasn't too hungry, but since it was around six, he knew he should eat at least something for dinner. He didn't bother looking for anything even as complicated as cereal, and simply grabbed a granola bar from a cabinet, along with some orange juice from the fridge. But as he sat down on to the kitchen table, there was a piece of paper on it. Arthur soon noticed that it was a note from the one who was missing.

" _Went to walk the forest path. Should be back before 18. -Alfred."_ The note said, written in Alfred's usual, messy handwriting. Arthur frowned when he saw 18, and looked at the clock. _'He should already be back, or at least on his way,'_ thought Arthur.

He sat down, relieved to now know where the boy was. He lazily took a few bites from his tasteless granola bar, and washed it down with a bit of orange juice. However his appetite was still not there, and he struggled to eat the whole bar.

It stressed him knowing that he was losing the battle against himself. He would have to give way and talk, there was no way he could be with the boy another day and act normal. It was too much to keep from Alfred, and too much for Arthur to keep in. He was going through all the possible ways he could start talking in his head, all the possible endings and all the possible reactions Alfred could have.

" _Get away from me!"_

" _I thought we were friends!"_

" _I love you, Arthur…"_

His head kept chanting all kinds of things, and he didn't even notice how quick fifteen minutes could pass. But still, there was no sign of Alfred. Arthur knew he shouldn't worry, but he still did.

Another fifteen minutes passed.

Still nothing. The Brit was seated on the sofa, now looking lost. Where was Alfred? Had something happened?

He got no answer to either by the rain drumming on the ceiling, and he just waited.

And another fifteen minutes passed of nervous waiting.

No signs of the boy.

Arthur was really trying to focus on something else than hopeless waiting, but he couldn't focus on anything he tried to do. The words on the magazine papers were suddenly in some weird, foreign language. But it wasn't as if the magazines were of any importance. Number one on his priority list was Alfred, and more importantly, finding out if something had happened.

Arthur managed to wait just a few minutes more, but when the clock was 18:49, it was too much for him. In sheer determination, he marched to the doorway, and grabbed his umbrella. An idea of calling the police did pop into his head, but he thought it was too early for that. He hastily put on his shoes, not wanting to waste any time. Before leaving, he hastily scribbled to the back of the kitchen note;

" _Left to look for you. Call me if you get here before me. –Arthur"_

Feeling empowered as he was finally doing something, he marched out of the villa to the rain. He opened his umbrella, and started walking towards the forest path.

The forest path was quite short, and led to a little hilltop campsite. Alfred had suggested they could walk it together someday, but they hadn't had time. The trail was muddy because of the rain, but it was not enough to stop a certain blonde from marching along it. All kinds of thoughts surfaced when he was almost running along the path, but he felt in power now that he was finally doing something instead of worrying at the villa.

A kilometer or two later, Arthur arrived to the hilltop. He was cold from the wind, but it could have been worse if he hadn't had the umbrella. Being wet while it was windy was one feeling Arthur hated.

The hilltop wasn't very high up. But the view to the sea was great, even with the bad weather. In fact, if Arthur hadn't been in such a hurry to find Alfred, he could have enjoyed the views and nature a little longer. But he knew his priority, and looked around.

Alfred hadn't come across him during the trail, and there was no other path down. So Alfred could be somewhere different entirely or in the little hut in front of him.

The hut was only a little wooden one, not even one with a fireplace. It had two windows, but they were both covered with curtains.

Arthur breathed in a few times, he hadn't even noticed how he had almost ran up most of the path. Catching his breath, he reached his hand for the handle. What would he do if Alfred wouldn't be there?

He pushed down the handle to open the door with a click. He pulled it open to see a hooded person sitting at the other end of the square building. And there was only person who it could be.

"Alfred!" Arthur managed to say as he closed the door behind himself, walking into the small, chilly hut. The American lifted his head to reveal his face, and his blue eyes. But his expression was a mess; sadness and shock with other emotions mixed in it.

"Arthur." Alfred finally replied with a voice so faint, that Arthur almost didn't hear it over the drumming rain. Arthur walked across the room slowly and calmly, although he was everything but calm. Alfred saw his intentions, and he moved more to the side of his little bench to make room for Arthur. Neither spoke anything as the other sat down.

The silence was painful. Arthur didn't know what to say, even if he should say something.

"We-we really need to talk, don't we?" Alfred started, and Arthur's heart wrenched from the broken voice he spoke in.

"We do."

Silence occurred again.

"I-I'm sorry." Alfred started, "That I just ran away and didn't talk… at all." Arthur felt himself get emotional; they really were going to talk about this.

"It's okay. But can you tell me… what the fortuneteller said? I'm really worried…" Arthur replied. The air in the room was tense, and it was chilly since the walls were badly insulated. Alfred seemed to hesitate, but just when Arthur was losing hope thinking he would never tell, a voice came.

"She said things about how my past still haunts me…" He began. Arthur didn't say anything, so he could continue.

"And how it's going to block me from the truth, o-or something." He finished, and he was definitely getting emotional. Arthur didn't really still get how it all fit together, but he knew enough to know that basically anything with Alfred's past was a hard subject for the American.

"She was kind of right…" Alfred suddenly continued again. "When you are surrounded by people who have told you how disgusting you and your kind are, how e-everyone I trusted turned their backs when I revealed who I truly was. And when they tell you over and over that you don't deserve happiness, and that you should be miserable just for existing…" Alfred started lightly sobbing, "Lies become…truth." He finished, now unable to stop himself from sobbing. Arthur didn't get to say anything as the other continued angrily:

"And they still haunt me, they still hold me back. Because they have made it a truth for me that I shouldn't be like this. Aa-nd…" He tried to say, but no sound managed to escape his throat as he started to sob again.

"Shh… listen to me." Arthur said with the most soothing voice he could manage in his state, knowing he had to be strong for Alfred. The boy tried his best to contain his sobs, but it wasn't working too well.

"In my mind, you are amazing. You bravely fight all of this alone, but you shouldn't. I worry for you, probably more than I should."

"But…but you're… strong and… stable, unlike me. You always try to help me, even when I'm rude, and broken like this…" Alfred replied, and Arthur could sense the self-loathing in his voice.

"You aren't weak, and you aren't being unfair. You just said how much your past affects you, so don't pretend like it's your fault everything doesn't always go according to plan, it's their fault." Arthur reasoned, surprising even himself on how he was still so calm. A little moment of silence came again.

"I'm not as stable as I look." Arthur then continued, earning a look from Alfred, his eyes so blurry from tears they seemed distorted.

"I hold back my feelings… I hide them. And sometimes those feelings could really hurt someone. But I feel as if I'm not good enough… not strong enough to keep them from hurting others than myself." Arthur managed to open up, and Alfred was all ears.

"And now that you've told me so much, p-put so much trust into me… I feel like I'm betraying you…" Arthur managed, starting to get emotional again, this time unable to stop emotions from surfacing.

"Arthur, I need to tell you something… about that." Alfred's voice suddenly came in a seemingly forced to be-calm tone. Arthur was anxious and scared of those words.

"I…I was awake when you… k-kissed me." Alfred managed, stuttering badly on the word "kiss".

Arthur's world stopped.

Now he knew the truth. Despite all of Arthur's best attempts, Alfred now knew what he had been hiding, the disgusting feelings he had for someone who needed his support….

"I…I-I'm so sorry… I shouldn't have…" Arthur stuttered, "I shouldn't have dragged you into this, you really just needed a good friend… and not someone… like me." Arthur couldn't stop the tears from falling from his face. They were a physical representation of the dams in his head being broken, the water flooding everywhere and bringing too many suppressed emotions with them.

Silence fell, but it was only broken by Arthur's light sobs.

"Hey, look at me." Alfred's voice whispered, but Arthur was too ashamed to look up.

"I never said that I didn't… that I didn't… like… the kiss." Alfred muttered. Arthur lifted his head and stared at him shocked. Tears were still rolling down, but he was feeling something else than sadness right then, something rare.

Hope.

"I…I've tried to hold back my feelings… as well. I didn't want to involve you in the m-mess that is my life…" Alfred muttered, avoiding eye contact.

Silence occurred. A long, long silence, where both were trying to process what had just happened. The rain kept going outside, and it drumming was all that could be heard. Arthur wasn't sure if he had just heard correctly. Did this mean that Alfred had… liked it?

It was impossible. No way.

Arthur wasn't sure if he was awake or still dreaming.

"I-I'm cold." Alfred finally spoke, almost trying to make it sound like a joke. It was an unexpected thing to say out of the blue, especially after what had just been found out.

"Oh… Me too." Arthur replied truthfully. But then, then he remembered something.

"Alfred, you know what they say you should do when people are c-cold in like, all of the survival TV-shows?" Arthur asked in his calmest possible voice, trying to not cry, and the American looked at him puzzled.

"You are supposed to… share your body heat." Arthur smirked through his sadness. He had always wanted to say that to someone, but never got the chance. It was very cheesy, but a brave move.

"Oh…" Alfred mumbled, still probably not getting the hint. Arthur smiled for the first time in what seemed ages, and moved right next to Alfred. But his courage was quickly disappearing, and he hesitated if his next move would be too much.

"We should do that." The brit whispered.

After one last hesitant thought, Arthur gathered his courage, and slowly moved so he was straddling the other. Alfred's face was unreadable, but then it seemed to suddenly make sense in his head, as his face dawned of realization. Slowly, he wrapped his warm arms around Arthur, unsure what would happen. Arthur did the same, and then he pressed his forehead to Alfred's, locking their eyes at each other.

"Warmer?" Arthur whispered softly, feeling more than warm himself. He was surprised that he had had the courage to test the boundaries of their relationship, so soon after finding out that the other actually returned his feelings at some level.

"Very." He blushed, and Arthur couldn't stop a smile. "But I think your lips still look a bit…cold." He said, and Arthur wasn't as slow as Alfred to understand what he meant. His voice had sounded _so hot_ in Arthur's mind, it made his head spin.

Slowly, suddenly feeling anxiousness instead of confidence, Arthur tilted his head just slightly to his right, looking for some reaction from the American.

"But, if it's okay, I think I can help with that." Alfred whispered, his hot breath tingling Arthur's cheeks and turning them red, and the American turned his head too.

"You don't have to ask my permission."

Then, it happened.

Alfred made the first move forwards, and Arthur barely got to move his head till the other's lips were already touching his.

The kiss was very inexperienced and unsure, but it was an explosion of sensations to Arthur. The feeling of warmth and softness of the other's lips on his own, drier ones. Their saliva mixing. The feeling of wanting more, more and more. Uncontrollable desire and the tingly feeling all around his body. He was weightless, and happier than he had been in years.

Reluctantly, Arthur was the first to pull away for air. Alfred seemed happy, but still looked shocked. Arthur hoped the shock was a good sign.

"I think they are still a bit cold…" Arthur suggested, surprised of his own shamelessness and bravery. The two then closed the gap between them again, this time with more intensity and confidence, since miraculously, the other hadn't run away or struggled against last time they kissed.

Their lips moved sloppily, but more this time, only increasing the friction and intoxicating pleasure that Arthur was feeling. It was an intense kiss, since both were using it to release once chained emotions. Both also moved their hands behind each other's back, almost trying to claw the other even closer. But the kiss was amateurish, their teeth clicked a few times together, and their tongues were a bit everywhere. If there would have been anyone else to see it, the kiss wouldn't have appeared exactly too beautiful. But in the minds of the two kissers, the act was the most beautiful thing ever.

Alfred was the first one to pull away, panting. Arthur was breathing fast as well, mind racing. The Brit was first to regain ability to speak.

"Wow…" Arthur managed to whisper. Both were smiling softly, and blushing.

"I never thought anything could feel that right… that I could ever be so happy…" Alfred sighed, and Arthur thought he could sense sadness in the voice. But he didn't bring it up as he spoke again;

"I think we should head back to the villa." the Brit suggested.

"Not yet…let's just stay like this for a while… if it's okay." Alfred replied, tightening his hug. Arthur was fine with that idea as well, and they leant their heads to each other's shoulder. The closeness was exciting, since normal people rarely, if ever got this close. Arthur listened to the other's breath, and closed his eyes to just think.

That day, he had managed to flood all of his emotions out for the world to see, shown his weakness and lowered his guard. But instead of getting rejected and ruining a friendship, Alfred had also shown his true feelings and lowered his walls. And somehow, two of these broken individuals had realized that they were less broken together.

And this feeling of being accepted for being broken made Arthur amazingly happy.

Arthur loved the endless hug and closeness, and when they talked, it suddenly felt much more intimate and meaningful. Alfred was also very warm and he looked stunning, despite crying a few times. It was unreal, but if it were to all be a dream, Arthur never wanted to wake up. It was so much better than he ever thought to be possible.

It was quite dark when they walked back to the villa. And somewhere during the walk, they started holding hands. Arthur's steps were so light he thought he could run a marathon, and he couldn't stop smiling and talking to Alfred.

Once they got back to the villa, the two were inseparable for the rest of the night. Laughing as Alfred made some dinner, talking about everything, and Arthur's favorite; the little kisses every now and then. Well, that was his second favorite, since the kisses that were rougher and probably were already counted into tiny make-out sessions actually took the top spot.

Alfred kissed him goodnight that night, and Arthur thought it was a thing he could get used to.

That night, they fell asleep while loosely holding hands. It took a while for Arthur to fall asleep, his head still simply not believing what had happened that day. But he didn't see dreams that night, since reality, for that little moment, was far better than any fantasy his brain could think of.

* * *

 **Phew. But yay, they are finally getting somewhere. Some might think this could be an ending to my story, but don't panic. There's still more to come. Like, they've now used 7 of their 30 days at the villa, so don't get your hopes up just yet :P**

 **Praises to everyone who have supported me or shown interest in the story, you are awesome.**


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